Taxi drivers across the North East will take part in a ‘slow drive’ around Newcastle city centre on Monday in protest at the local council scrapping locality tests.

Here’s what you need to know:

Q.) What is a locality test?

The test was designed to establish that, prior to obtaining a licence, drivers have sufficient knowledge of the locality, and of their responsibilities, to operate effectively.

Q.) What were taxi drivers quizzed on?

Cabbies were advised by the council to get information from the Tourist Information Centre. The test included a series of verbal questions to assess drivers’ knowledge on churches, historic places of interest, hotels, tourist attractions, museums, cinemas, art galleries, casinos, court buildings, function suites, post offices and nightclubs.

Q.) What happened if a taxi drive failed?

In short, they would need to book another test before being able to qualify as a taxi driver. The tests were carried out at Newcastle’s Civic Centre. Following the unsuccessful test the examining officer would give the driver a locality test sheet, which they would have to produce at the licensing office when booking a re-test.

Q.) Why are cabbies taking part in the slow drive?

They are protesting at Newcastle City Council’s decision earlier this year to scrap the locality test for private hire drivers in the borough.

The taxi drivers claim it causes safety issues on the roads and has led to a significant and unfair increase in private hire drivers in the city.

Q.) What is a ‘slow ‘drive’?

It’s pretty self-explanatory. The ‘slow drive’ will see the protesting taxi drivers gather in Newcastle and, slowly, drive around the city centre, in particular around the Civic Centre. It will potentially cause disruption, especially in busy areas.

Q.) Can I avoid any disruption?

To be completely sure to avoid any disruption, you should stay out of the city centre for an hour from 3pm today, Monday. The route the taxi drivers will take will start at Claremont Road and will mainly concentrate on roads near and around the Civic Centre. It would be best to avoid roads around the Civic Centre between 3pm and 4pm today.

Q.) Is the ‘slow drive’ a one-off protest?

It’s not planned to be a one-off. Taxi drivers claim they will make it a weekly protest, albeit on different days and at different times each week.