IT is understandable if taxi drivers in Southampton are feeling a little bit sore today.

More than six months ago they were led to believe they would get a helping hand from the city council in these difficult financial times.

Councillors voted to give them £250 towards the £700 cost of installing controversial CCTV cameras in their cabs and to allow them to keep their vehicles on the road for an extra two years.

Today those concessions could be overturned, as we report on page 5.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the original decision, it is surely unfair that the rules can be rewritten so quickly and so completely.

However, that is not to say that threatening to bring Southampton to a standstill is acceptable either.

It is vital that taxi drivers see the bigger picture and consider how yet more disruption to the city’s creaking transport system will look.

Is it really the best way to attract more people here? After all, more visitors mean more business for the cabbies.