A TAXI passenger fled without paying after running up a fare of hundreds of pounds on a four-hour journey from Newcastle to Scotland, police have said.

The man hired the taxi outside a train station in Newcastle at around 10pm on a Saturday and the driver agreed to take him over the border.

When he was dropped off in Hazel Road, Banknock, in the Falkirk area, around 2am the following morning, the passenger ran off without settling the bill.

Police refused to say exactly how much the bill came to - but it is thought to have been in the mid-hundreds of pounds.

Officers branded the fraud "cruel" and have appealed for help to trace the man, who hired the taxi on December 29, arriving in Scotland on December 30.

Inspector Paul Fleming, of Central Scotland Police, said: "This was a cruel act to play on somebody who was trying to make an honest living and who is now considerably out of pocket.

"We are continuing our inquiries into this incident and I am appealing to the public for any information they have that may help the police to solve this crime.

The passenger was described as 5ft 7ins with short brown hair and was about 17-years-old.

He was wearing a black jacket or jumper with blue jeans and was carrying a blue holdall.