Cabbies have accused Durham City Council of being "pig headed'' in the row over the colour of the city's fleet of taxis.

Hackney cab operators successfully challenged in the magistrates court the city council's insistence that all their vehicles should be white and less than five years old.

But the council lodged an appeal against the magistrates' decision that is due to be heard at Durham Crown Court in July.

More than 20 members of the Durham Independent Taxi Association and the Durham Taxi Association, which represent the city's 64 drivers, marched to council offices in Hawthorn Terrace to protest after an operator whose white car broke down was refused permission to use a red one while repairs were carried out.

Qurban Hussain, 50, of Houghton-le-Spring, who runs Q Taxis, has three vehicles, all of them white.

But after his Vauxhall Astra suffered engine damage when it took in water during heavy rain, he was refused a temporary licence to use a red Toyota for a fortnight while repairs were carried out because it was not the stipulated colour.

The Independent Taxi Association says the decision - which it claims breaches a gentleman's agreement - was made on the same day that two other drivers were given temporary extensions to licences for vehicles that do not meet the colour ruling.

The association, which has accused the council of wasting council taxpayers' money on the appeal, says it is confident the crown court will uphold the magistrates' decision to overturn the colour code - meaning that some operators have wasted money on white vehicles.

Mr Qurban said the council's ruling was costing him £600 in lost revenue and had meant laying off drivers.

"The council are telling us to put more taxis out and yet they are taking my livelihood. They are being stupid about it, they haven't been flexible. "Please wake up and help us. If you are not helping us, you are wasting our time.''

Independent Taxi association chairman Adrian Fets said the ruling on Mr Hussain's application was unfair and that the council had changed the rules on the temporary use of non-standard vehicles without telling anyone.

But he pointed out: "They could well lose their appeal. We are very confident. At the moment we are winning because the last decision was the magistrates', who overturned the council's policy.

He added that the association opposed the policy because it was "unnecessary'' and would create a clash with taxis from neighbouring council areas that had a white colour code.

"The council are being pig-headed and bombastic about this.''

A council spokesman said: "The rules are that you can run a non-conforming vehicle if you have had an accident that has been independently assessed.

"The Asian driver ran through a flood, so that was self-inflicted and doesn't constitute an accident. The other two drivers had had accidents.''