Private hire drivers, like their hackney carriage counterparts, play a vital if sometimes unacknowledged role in our transport system. Very often these drivers fill the gaps that public transport can’t or won’t – late at night, in remote areas and during holiday periods, for example.

Of course they get paid for this, but the fact remains that we rely on them and put our trust in them.

With that trust, comes responsibility and, sadly, there is a small minority of these drivers prepared to break the rules – especially in allowing themselves to be flagged down by passengers.

Such drivers jeopardise many things – the wellbeing of their fares who would not be covered by insurance in the event of an accident, trust in the system and the livelihood of the vast majority of drivers, both private hire and hackney carriage, who follow the rules.

That is why it is important that they are regulated and that those regulations are enforced. So the initiative carried out by Bradford Council at the weekend aimed at weeding out the rogues in the private hire trade is both welcome and timely.

But while this can leave drivers in no doubt of their responsibilities, customers can show a degree of responsibility too.

It is not hard to tell a bogus driver from the real thing, or a private hire taxi from a hackney carriage (the latter are white with a green flash on their front doors). The public should stick to drivers who are sticking to the rules.