TAXIS could be allowed to use a Westgate bus link road on a trial basis after drivers complained customers were missing trains and paying double.

Black cab drivers gathered outside County Hall yesterday urging transport bosses to grant them access to Norfolk Street and Castle Street - a through route alongside the Westgate Centre.

County council officers had recommended that the ban remained in place but cabinet member for transport Yvonne Constance called for a trial after hearing drivers' concerns.

Former city councillor and taxi driver of more than 20 years, Shah Khan, said: "We are fighting this for the public, we should be able to take them from A to B as quickly as possible.

"But they are sitting in the back of the cab on Google Maps and it's showing them only five minutes to the destination but it's taking much longer and we are being criticised."

Another driver, Tas Raza, said: "If Oxpens is chock-a-block as it regularly is and someone wants to go to the station it is costing them £10-11 and it should be £5-6."

Larry Nelson, from Cowley, who has been driving in Oxford for around 30 years, said: "We are not asking for much, we just want a bit of help.

"It would save the public money and everybody would be happier - people are missing trains and missing appointments the way things are."

Details of the trial, believed to be six months, are yet to be finalised.