TAXI passengers are to undergo checks as part of a pre-Christmas crackdown, just weeks after a Bury driver's death.

In a new move, Bolton police are stopping private hire vehicles and black cabs, to ensure there are no trouble-makers on board.

The clampdown comes just weeks after the death of a Bury taxi driver Tariq Javed and stems from a meeting with police chiefs and taxi drivers' representatives to calm safety concerns.

Mr Javed, 48, of Richard Burch Street, Bury, died last month following an attack in Alder Avenue, Bury, near to the M66. The incident prompted calls for strike action among local private hire drivers.

Now the safety scheme, running for the next two weeks during which taxis will be stopped, has been set up with a police vehicle making roaming patrols of the borough. Chief Insp Alan Greene, of Bolton Central, said: "We're putting traffic officers out on the streets but instead of checking out drivers as we have in previous years, we're checking on the passengers.

"We're making sure they are orderly and behaving themselves during journeys.

"It's not just the threat of robberies we are preventing, but also the fact that drivers are subjected to racial abuse at times and people run from cabs without paying their fares.

"People cannot be detained for too long, a fact that we are mindful of, but so far the scheme is going very well."

The scheme, which is part of GMP's Operation Hawk -- a crackdown on street robbery -- has been backed by taxi association bosses in the town.

By its completion more than 100 taxi cabs will have been stopped and all private hire firms in the town visited to boost the safety message.

Charles Oates, secretary of the Bolton Hackney Carriage Association, said: "We welcome any initiative to ensure the safety of both private hire and black cab drivers.

"The association deeply regrets that such actions have had to be taken. The majority of customers are suffering because of a minority of hot heads.

"The death of the driver in Bury has brought it home to everyone that public service drivers need protection. Knowing that we have got the support of the police in this matter and that action is taking place is reassuring for everyone."

Two men have been charged with murder and robbery in connection with the death of Mr Javed.