100 taxi drivers suspended for not taking council course on personal hygiene and 'conflict management '

It was taken as read that they knew how to lift luggage, talk to passengers - and comb their hair.

Now, however, they are being asked to attend a course of instruction in such apparently basic matters.

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Uproar: Frank Shaw has been driving cabs for 25 years and is refusing to take the test

And the first local authority to insist on it has suspended more than 100 cabbies who refused to take part.

Council officials in Bournemouth say they will be given back their licences only when they sign up to the taxpayer-funded Business and Technical Education Council qualification.

The BTEC in "Transporting Passengers By Taxi and Private Hire" was introduced by the exam board Edexcel in 2005 with the help of the Department for Transport.

It is up to individual authorities to decide whether or not to adopt it as a requirement.

Bournemouth's cabbies were given until the end of last month to sit the exam and told they would be suspended if they did not meet the deadline.

Those who signed up for eight two-hour college sessions were provided with textbooks including a section on lifting luggage.

It teaches the driver to "risk assess" by sizing up the shape of the load, the surrounding environment and his fitness level.

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And it goes on to give hints about personal grooming - including advice on hair, shaving, cleaning teeth, finger nails and body odour.

There are just over 1,000 taxi drivers in the Bournemouth borough.

Of these, around 700 have taken the course, 200 have signed up to take it, and 101 have been suspended.

Frank Shaw, 67, refused to take the course on principle.

Although he is officially suspended he plans to carry on driving and says he will take the council to court to appeal against its decision.

"I have been driving a cab for 25 years so why should I have to prove that I'm capable of doing the job?" he said.

"I know how to greet a customer and lift a suitcase - I don't need a piece of paper to prove that.

"Most of the drivers who have been suspended refused to take the BTEC on the same grounds as me.

"Others only took it because they were worried about losing their licence."

One driver who gave in to the pressure said: "I have been driving cabs for 20 years yet they are now trying to tell me how to do my job.

"You are even told how to say hello to a customer and lift luggage - it's quite patronising really.

"I took the exam and passed but I only did it because I didn't want my licence taken off me."

Stephen Chappell, chairman of the council's licensing board, said the BTEC is vital to ensure drivers are of a high standard.

"We are proud to be leading the way by providing our drivers with this training," he said.

"We have to take firm action against those drivers who have not trained."