AN “ILLEGAL” taxi service that offered cheap rides in private vehicles has been shut down.

The online group Southampton Town Lifts is no longer operating after the Daily Echo yesterday revealed that the group was being used by motorists to act as unofficial taxi drivers.

Yesterday morning the Facebook group changed from a closed group, where only members could see posts, to "secret", meaning the group could only be searched for and seen by members, before being completely removed.

One of the people who ran the group commented on the Daily Echo website, saying: “Thanks for your support everyone. We set up the site because we were fed up with constant posts on our timeline about people wanting lifts.

“We weren’t trying to take business away from taxis, we weren’t aware we were doing anything illegal. The site has been taken down, but it’s not going to stop people seeking lifts from elsewhere because taxis are just too expensive.

“As for the claim that we may be putting girls at risk of assault; all of the members were vetted and no one was assaulted, every member was a friend and any nasty behaviour or comments resulted in removal from the group.”

Southampton City Council yesterday released a warning to residents about the dangers of using an unlicensed driver and reminded motorists they could be fined up to £5,000 and receive six points on their Driving Licence if they are unlicensed.

Simon Letts, leader of Southampton City Council, said: “Our licensing team went straight into action and contacted the people involved and explained to them what they can and cannot do and explained they cannot run this on Facebook.

“I suspect some people thought they could do it and have now been told it is not within the law and hopefully that is the end of it.

“The job of the council is to protect the public and that is the reason we carry out the proper checks for taxi drivers.

“There are sites were people can share vehicles for getting from A to B, but charging strangers a cash fee is running a taxi company.”

Chairman of Southampton Hackney Association, Ian Hall, said: “I am glad it has been taken down but the problem is how many others are operating in Southampton?

“The council must keep tags on this when we send them information and they need to investigate it straight away.

“On new years people need to be careful and some of the prices are more than what we would charge on the meter.”