A FURIOUS cab driver is demanding action after passengers slashed the interior of his taxi.

Mohammed Farouk was horrified to discover seat belts had been severed, the seats ripped and the roof lining of his cab had been slit.

The £1,000 worth of damage happened after he picked up five young men from outside the Pack Horse Hotel in Bolton and took them to Salford on Saturday night.

Mr Farouk said: "I just felt sick. I had only made £130 for working all day and night and then this happens."

Mr Farouk, a grandfather of 10 from Great Lever, said that he contacted police just minutes after dropping off his passengers, but was told that no-one was available to help.

Charles Oakes, spokesman for the Bolton Hackney Association, said the incident was the latest in a growing trend of damage to vehicles taking passengers to the Little Hulton and Salford areas.

He said drivers would discuss whether to declare the areas a no-go zone, or consider demanding payment plus a deposit up front to cover any potential damage.

Only a week ago another cab's wing was damaged by stones thrown by yobs in Little Hulton.

"The council says we should have nice respectable cabs, but unfortunately a minority of people don't deserve them," said Mr Oakes.

And he is calling on Bolton Council and the police to do more to help.

"There is a lack of response and sympathy from police when we have problems," said Mr Oakes, who pressing for meetings with senior officers to discuss the problem.

"We have now got a significant proportion of drivers not working nights because of the anti-social behaviour of passengers."

Andrew Fisher, Bolton's head of licensing, said that while Bolton Council could not fund the purchase of CCTV systems for taxis, there was nothing to stop drivers installing their own systems.

Chief Insp Pat McKelvey of Bolton Police said: "We treat every incident of crime seriously, whether it involves a taxi driver or not."