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Christmas revellers could be stranded in town on the busiest day of the year if cab drivers in Swansea vote to strike next week.Both Hackney and private hire cabs are to vote on whether to take strike action on the final Friday before Christmas, when thousands of people traditionally head into the city centre for a festive night out.

Revellers will face massive problems getting home on the night if drivers do decide to boycott the city.

Cab drivers want to take action because they are unhappy at plans for a new rank in the city centre.

Mark Davies, chairman of cab drivers group Shoda, said: "We do not want to inconvenience people at Christmas, but this is very important to us.

"We have not been listened to by the Council's licensing department, and the latest decision means there is going to be an accident.

"We are not going to take part in any further consultations with them, because they do not listen to us."

Drivers are to take their vote early next week, following a decision yesterday to approve a new taxi rank in York Street, opposite the Vue cinema.

Although drivers are keen for a new rank, they say York Street is the wrong place for it.

Wayne Harris, representing Swansea Private Hire vehicles, said: "It is an extremely dangerous location and it is an accident waiting to happen."

And Chrissy Sandbrook, owner of O2 bathrooms and the Loft bar and grill, on York Street agrees.

She said: "York Street is a family street and it is the wrong place.

"We are concerned about our windows, and if it is raining we will have people loitering in our lobby."

Drivers say the street is too narrow and will cause problems for cabs needing to get onto Oystermouth Road - meaning a difficult three-point turn on the cramped streets.

The drivers say they are also angry about the way the decision was approved at the licensing committee, insisting their views were not listened to, and pointing out that markings were painted on the road weeks before the decision to approve it had been officially taken.

They are now planning to report committee chairman Alan Lloyd to the local government Ombudsman for the way he conducted the committee which took the decision.

Councillor Lloyd defended the council's action and said the authority would be monitoring the situation.

He said: "We haven't been told anything officially about a strike. It was a threat put to us by Mark Davies, but the committee has gone ahead and put the rank up.

"We took advice from police and our traffic people, and so we took on the advice of the professionals."

Gower councillor Richard Lewis shares the concerns of cab drivers, and also their anger at the way the decision was made

"It was a total disgrace and very unprofessional," he said.

"The taxi drivers use the roads day in and day out, and we should listen to their views, not have council officers making decisions in their ivory towers without realising what it is like in the real world."

The decision to approve the York Street taxi rank came with immediate effect, with cabs able to use it from last night.

original story in full