Taxi drivers will be asked for their views on proposals to get them to drive younger cars in a bid to cut pollution.

Swindon Borough Council’s licensing committee agreed to hold a consultation on a proposal to drop the maximum age of a car when it is first licensed from five years to four.

The aim is to help cut emissions and pollution in the town and improve air quality.

Included in the proposal is that all newly-licensed vehicles must meet a European emissions standard, and existing taxis must reach the standard by 2024.

While taxi drivers were not against the idea, some feel the burden of cutting vehicle emissions in the town should not just fall on them.

Andy Lucas, the chairman of the Swindon Taxi Association, which represents hackney carriage drivers, said: “If taxi drivers are being asked to have more modern vehicles to cut air pollution, should this not also be asked of all other public service vehicles, such as buses?

“And what measures is the council itself taking with its vehicles to cut down on pollution? This should be required of all service vehicles in the borough.”

The council’s licensing manager Kathryn Ashton told the committee: “Swindon has an obligation to improve its air quality, and it has to reduce the levels of NO2 as soon as possible.”

She said there were around 1,200 hackney cabs – which can be hailed or picked up at a rank – and private hire vehicles, which must be booked, in Swindon.

Mrs Ashton said there were no plans to reduce the upper age limit for taxis, currently15 years, adding: “All licensed vehicles have an annual MOT check up to 10 years, two tests a year between 10 and 12 years and then three between 12 and fifteen. After 15 years we wouldn’t licence a vehicle. There are some local authorities which don’t have an upper age limit but not many.”

Coun Brian Mattock said: “Isn’t the condition of a car a better guide than its age? You could have a six-year-old car that has been kept in a garage and has very low mileage, which might be better than a younger car with higher mileage.”

Committee chairman Vera Tomlinson conceded Mr Lucas’ point, and said she would ask the leader of the council to write to him outlining all it is doing to improve air quality.