IT is essential that private hire cars should be easily identifiable. At the moment not all of them are.

As our story tonight reveals, over the last 12 months three women have been attacked and raped after getting into cars they believed to be private hire taxis in Manchester city centre.

Now Bolton councillors are addressing the issue by backing calls for better identification of private hire cars. They are acting in everyone's best interests in doing so.

Better roof signs and front and back plates on the vehicles sound sensible. It would also help to avoid confusion if private hire cars were painted in distinctive, easily-identifiable colours that were common across the North West.

Women, and men, who get into private hire cars, especially at night, want the reassurance of knowing they are being driven by a properly licensed, responsible person.

We cannot imagine that genuine private hire drivers will object to any measures which increases safety for their passengers.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.