A TAXI company has revealed why its drivers will not be taking part in Monday's strike, stating that their demands should be met.

The drivers at PAL Cars in Bradshawgate will not be taking part in the 24-hour walkout, which was announced by the Private Hire Drivers' Association on Wednesday.

The decision was made after negotiations with the operators for an increase in fares broke down.

Azhar Mahmood, business development manager at PAL Cars, said: "I think we should be paying the drivers the extra money full stop.

"About 20p extra for the drivers is neither here nor there.

"We are trying to help the drivers and by helping out drivers, we help our customers."

Mr Mahmood recently wrote and published a book called the Pal Cars 500 Constitution Rules Book.

Its aim was to help drivers to provide the best customer service.

He said: "At the end of the day, we have got to be here for our customers. We do a lot of school runs, there will be people going to the doctors and we will be doing all of those on Monday. We are not going to be striking."

Bolton operators offered a 10 per cent rise in fares earlier this month, saying customers would not accept a larger increase.

But in a statement, a spokesman for the drivers said: ""On January 15, the operators called the BPHA to the meeting to inform us that they will not increase the fare to £2.80 but to £2.50. Not only that, they also informed us that they have decided to increase the rent on drivers by five per cent.

"They are using this opportunity to make even more money out of their drivers, which we think is quite shameful."

Asif Vali, chairman of the Private Hire Operators’ Association, said: "We as operators have a duty to ensure we run a safe service for the public and we will run as normal.

"There will be a lot of drivers who will be working and some drivers will choose to stay off work and that is their decision."