Taxis blocked Tower Bridge

About 70 cabs parked up on the south side of the bridge - within sight of City Hall - causing disruption to one of London's main arteries.

After two hours they drove off heading towards Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus where there were reports of heavy traffic.

Higher fares after 2000 BST were introduced by the Mayor of London in 2001 to increase the number of cabbies working late at night.

But in April Ken Livingstone ruled higher rates could only be charged after 2200 BST in order to simplify fares and encourage more people to use cabs.

Drivers say the new rules, which reduce average early evening fares by �1.40, are costing them up to �30 a week.

Proper representation

The London Cab Drivers Club calculates some cabbies are losing up to �30 a week because of changes, which included a flat rate fare regardless of the number of passengers.

They say all drivers are losing four pence a mile for the first six miles of a journey, and six pence a mile after that.

Deputy chairman Kenny Burns said: "We want the carriage office to review the decision, we want them to review journeys under 12 miles, we want them to look again at tariff three at 2000 BST and we also want proper representation at TfL.

"If we had that in the first place, I don't think this problem would have arisen."