5,000 black cabs recalled after 'green' engine blaze

Twelve TX4 cabs burst into flames over the summer, leaving the vehicles gutted and their drivers shaken.

Six hundred cabs made by London Taxis International were ordered off the capital's roads for urgent investigations a week ago, with a further 400 grounded in other towns and cities.

All were early production TX4 models with a "56" number plate.

Today the Coventry firm said the fires erupted when a pipe used to recirculate exhaust fumes - as part of an emissions-control system - overheated. The "Exhaust Gas Recirculation" pipe then set fire to under-bonnet cladding installed to reduce engine noise.

One thousand TX4s - including the 600 in London - will now be fitted with fire-prevention equipment over the next two and a half weeks.

A further 4,000 TX4 models built at a later date will then be recalled for similar treatment over coming months in what LTI says is a "confidence-boosting" move, even though it says the taxis are not at risk.

As an extra precaution automatic fire extinguishers will be fitted under the bonnets of 5,000 TX4 vehicles.

High pressure canisters will automatically flood the engine compartment with carbon dioxide if sensors detect a fire.

The cost of the work will initially be borne by LTI although it may seek to recover costs from its suppliers or insurers.

The firm has pledged to compensate TX4-owning drivers who have suffered financially. Their claims are likely to total tens of thousands of pounds as drivers have had to hire replacement cabs.

"If there is ever any problem under the bonnet, the fire extinguishing system will deal with it," Matthew Cheyne, LTI marketing director, told the Evening Standard.

"If you had a massive fire it would suppress it. It will give the driver and passengers enough time to get out."

LTI has set up special facilities with London cab dealer Sigma to handle the refit. Up to 30 repair bays each manned by two technicians will work to ensure that around 50 cabs a day are treated. London's 600 cabs will be refitted within two and a half weeks.

Mr Cheyne said no further cabs - in addition to the initial 1,000 - would be ordered off the roads. The 1,000 affected cabs will be allowed back on the roads after the work has been completed.

A spokesman for the Public Carriage Office in London, said: "We must ensure that, with the proposed modifications, the TX4 meets our conditions of fitness and provides the highest possible safety standards which our passengers quite rightly expect.

"We know cab drivers are keen to get this sorted out as quickly as possible so they can get back out to work in their own cabs, and we will be contacting all those affected directly to advise them of what happens next in terms of their vehicles' licences."

One driver of a TX4 that had been recalled in London told the Standard: "It has been very stressful and expensive to hire a replacement vehicle ... [and] we have had to continue paying the loan on a £34,000 vehicle which we can't even use. It is like a second mortgage. We are calling on LTI to sort this out as soon as they can."