TAXI drivers in Redditch are threatening to strike if the job becomes more "dangerous".

But a police chief has defended town officers after accusations by the drivers that they are not responding properly to their emergency calls.

North Worcestershire Commander Chief Supt Suzette Davenport was responding after drivers complained about a ''slow'' response to troublesome passengers and vandalism.

Redditch Taxi Association chairman Mohammed Arif said: "The police response is just not good enough. The job we do is dangerous at times and if we call the police and they don't turn up, fare dodging can escalate to racist abuse."

He said the association met police two years ago to discuss response times but the situation had deteriorated after an initial improvement.

Fare dodging, racial abuse, stone throwing and stolen taxi roof signs accounted for most complaints, said Mr Arif, who also welcomed police moves to install CCTV in taxis.

Taxi driver Mahboob Ali said: "The police take too long attending and once they do, they just ignore it. Most of us don't bother reporting incidents now."

Redditch Pakistan Community Forum is supporting the drivers and secretary Perwaiz Khawaja said their calls should be given top priority.

"We're monitoring the situation and want police to take more effective measures," he said.

"But we do have an excellent rapport with the police, who have been very co-operative on other issues."

Chief Supt Davenport said the issues had been raised at regular meetings with the two groups.

She said: "We're concerned the Asian community has these strong feelings, particularly as we've been working closely with the community forum and the Taxi Liaison Group for over two years."

She said police had detected more than half of all reported racist incidents, adding: "We do analyse these incidents so we can come up with specific solutions. This is exactly why we've been able to look at fitting cameras to some taxis.

"There was a recent case where a driver had his window smashed as he drove.

"He wasn't happy with the service we provided and we have now apologised for not meeting his expectations.''

Chief Supt Davenport added: "Managing the public's expectation of the service we provide is very important. Sometimes, people expect a police officer to appear within minutes of any incident but we have to prioritise our work.

"Clearly, life or death situations must be attended first on every occasion."