TAXI drivers are up in arms after a busy city rank was closed until Christmas with no warning yesterday.

Wiltshire Council has shut the four-car mini rank outside Chick-O-Land in New Canal for coach companies to drop off older passengers to the Christmas market.

Christopher Allen said that with only 30 taxi slots in the city, losing four would have a big impact on the more than 300 cab drivers operating in Salisbury.

He said: "We are shocked and up in arms at what has happened.

"When you have got that amount of taxis and only 30 spaces, it causes a lot of problems.

"Wiltshire Council do this all the time, and they just do not seem to care.

"They are meant to give us two weeks warning, but the signs only went up this morning."

The closure runs until December 18.

Mr Allen, 47, claimed that Wiltshire Council had told him it could do what it liked, and did not have to explain the law.

He said: "We pay a lot of money for the plates on our vehicles and with the increase in taxis it is hard enough.

"It is shocking how the council treat us in this manner."

Fellow cabbie Ian Lamberth said taxis used the rank all year round, and the closure would affect older passengers.

"They will be seriously confused if they come to the mini rank and we are not there to help them with their bags," he said.

"A lot of people depend on us."

Drivers also raised safety concerns over the new drop-off point, with passengers having to step off coaches into New Canal.

A Wiltshire Council spokesperson said: “This is the third year the bays have been suspended at the request of Salisbury BID while the Christmas Market is taking place. We do provide an alternative taxi feeder rank on Milford Street while the market is on and measures are in place to ensure people being dropped off coaches can access the market safely.”