By Dom Bowers

Taxi drivers have launched a fight to stop a busy rank from being scrapped.

Cabbies in Clacton are concerned that the site in Old Road, outside the Waterglade Retail Park, is about to be replaced with a bus stop.

Vehicles often queue two or three times the length of the rank while they wait for shoppers.

Cabbie Colin Bennett said the rank is vital for the elderly, disabled and people with trolleys, prams and shopping bags.

Mr Bennett said the ban on vehicles, other than buses and delivery lorries, in central Pier Avenue from 10am to 4pm is causing an additional problem to their trade.

A spokesman for Essex County Council confirmed that congestion around the taxi rank is being monitored but said there are no plans to move it at this time.

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