A TAXI driver has been given a final warning for refusing a fare from a blind woman and her guide dog.

William Jukes, from Carr-ville, near Durham, yesterday appeared before Durham City Council's licensing panel accussed of breaching the Disability Discrimination Act when he failed to pick up the woman from Durham train station.

The panel heard she had been second in the taxi queue, but when Mr Jukes pulled up, the man in front of her, Angus McIntosh, director of the North-East Probation Consortium, allowed her to take his place.

In a statement to Durham City Council, Mr McIntosh said Mr Jukes refused to accept the woman as a passegner and pulled away.

At yesterday's hearing, Mr Jukes said he had an unblemished 26-year record as a taxi driver.

He submitted a letter to the council that said he started a business with his former wife providing care for the elderly and disabled and had worked there for ten years.

He said that as treasurer of the Taxi Driver's Association, he encouraged people to report incidents of discrimination.

Mr Jukes said he had driven the woman on previous occasions and said he pulled away because he had two other bookings and knew he did not have time to get to her house and clean the car after the dog had been in it.

He submitted character references from relatives of an elderly couple, one of whom was in the advanced stages of dementia and the other who had limited mobility after suffering a stroke.

They said they were happy with the service Mr Jukes provided.

Another character reference was submitted by the parents of a mentally disabled boy who has also used Mr Jukes' taxi for many years.

They said his helpfulness and support went "far beyond his duty as a taxi driver".

Mr Jukes was given a final written warning for breaching the Disability Act, which will stay on file for a year.

Speaking after the hearing, at the town hall in Durham, Mr Jukes said: "I have had months of hell and I am pleased it is all over.

"This will never, ever happen again."