TWO private hire drivers were caught picking up customers illegally in a council sting.

Both Absar Ahmed and Irfanbhai Malatgar stopped for undercover council officers in Bradshawgate despite not being licensed to pick passengers up on the street.

A council spokesman said private hire vehicles must be booked in advance, and the drivers had not undergone the necessary procedures to ply for trade.

Both Ahmed and Malatgar, who were also not insured to be flagged down for fares, were fined £375.

Ahmed, aged 34, of Orchid Avenue, Farnworth, faced losing his driving licence after magistrates endorsed it with eight points, taking him over the standard banning threshold of 12.

But the bench opted not to disqualify him from driving as Ahmed would lose his job as a taxi driver, which would affect his ability to pay his mortgage.

The court was told he was the sole income provider for his family, with his wife due to give birth in August.

He was still ordered to pay a total court bill of £953.

Malatgar, aged 34, of Halliwell Road, was also given eight points on his licence and told to pay £907 in total costs.

Neither man has had his licence to operate as a taxi driver revoked by Bolton Council.

The name of the taxi firms the men work for were not revealed in court.

A council spokesman said the charges were solely the responsibility of the drivers, not the company they represent.

Bolton Council carries out operations twice a year to check that taxi drivers are abiding by the regulations.

Officers will make it clear when flagging cars down that they have not booked and they are supposed to read a script. The drivers should advise them to ring an operator.

A Bolton Council spokesman said: “We carried out an operation last September as part of regular spot checks in the town and as a result brought the prosecutions to court for plying for hire and driving without the correct insurance.”

A third driver, Mohammed Shahbaz, aged 46, of Woodvale Drive, Great Lever, did not enter a plea to the same two charges, and he will return to court for an adjourned hearing on May 18.