A taxi firm is investing £250,000 in innovative new schemes to make life easier for passengers in Basildon.

Pitsea-based A&B Taxi's latest ideas from owners Gary Brand and Steve Foster will revolutionise the way cabs are used.

The 100-car company has already launched a new call-back system which alerts clients when their cab has arrived, benefiting people who cannot see the street from their flat.

Now clubbers packing the Festival Leisure Park will also be relieved when new ticket machines are installed preventing the free-for-all at kicking out time.

The machines - which dish out a ticket giving details of when a car will arrive and ensures nobody else can steal your cab - are to be placed on the busy park, at railway stations and in the town centre.

Clients will no longer have to call for a taxi, they will simply take a ticket as you would at a meat counter in a supermarket.

Published Monday, April 8, 2002