TENDRING’S taxis have been given a clean bill of health in a major safety operation.

Vehicles were stopped in and around Clacton and checked by licensing officers, who joined forces with police and road safety inspectors last week.

One Tendring cabbie was given a fixed-penalty fine for smoking in his vehicle, which is illegal.

But the results were an improvement on the last spot-checks in January, when one taxi was taken off the road and four other drivers given warnings.