A feasibility study is being carried out into whether CCTV cameras in taxi cabs will cut the number of attacks on drivers.

If proved successful it could mean cameras being installed in taxis across the district.

The details of the study have been revealed following the latest assault on a driver who suffered head injuries after he was beaten and robbed when he picked up two men in Keighley.

Metro Taxis of Keighley has just completed a 60-day recording of incidents involving five of its 70 cabs. The number of threats, attacks and amount of verbal abuse have been monitored.

There were 130 incidents including 25 of threats or intimidation of drivers, an incident of being spat in the face, two of drivers being struck, one taxi door kicked in and a windscreen wiper broken. The evidence is to be presented to Bradford Council taxi licensing officers as part of an investigation into the feasibility of fitting CCTV cameras in all cabs.

The results will be compared with a similar 60-day period later this year in which cameras will be fitted and customers warned they could face prosecution. Keighley anti-crime partnership, which initiated the study, will subsidise the cost of the five cameras for the follow-up study.

Bradford Councillor Andrew Mallinson , chairman of the partnership, said equipment had to be tested to ensure it was good enough for the police to use in evidence.

"This is an important initiative both for the safety of the driver and the public that use taxis," he said.

A taxi boss, who wished not to be named, said the aim was to have one camera focused on the inside of the cab and another from the driver's viewpoint.

"I'm sure that CCTV will eventually have to come in for the safety of both drivers and passengers," he added.

Even if the scheme proves that CCTV does cut crime, the taxi companies would have to pick up the costs of the cameras themselves.

l Police are appealing for witnesses to the latest attack which took place in Coronation Way, Keighley on Sunday February 27, between 11.05pm and 11.15pm. The driver needed hospital treatment.

One of the men is described as possibly Asian, or mixed race with a pale complexion.

He was aged 17 or 18, around 5ft 10ins tall, was slim and had short black hair. He was wearing a dark top with a hood and appeared to have a bandage wrapped around his left wrist.

The second man was white, 6ft tall, aged 18, and had a spotty complexion. He was wearing a white hooded top.

Witnesses should telephone Keighley police on (01535) 617059.