Blueline, Northumberland.

A 'Taxi' driver academy that takes recruits from the job centre and into the cab within weeks has been hailed a success.

Blueline 'Taxis' has helped 19 drivers qualify for a career on the roads, with a further 21 expected to follow later this year.

The Wallsend-based firm launched the academy in partnership Northumberland College and a number of training providers, with recruits studying nine units in a three-week course covering areas such as customer service and route knowledge.

Once students have completed a series of written assessments, they graduate with a nationally recognised qualification, and bosses say they now want to build on the academy's success by opening a purpose-built training centre in Newcastle.

Ian Shanks, Blueline managing director, said: “We wanted to set something up that would not just give people a qualification but the guarantee of work.

“That’s why we partnered the college because we want to see people move away from welfare and into work with no cost at all to the participants.”

 Comment; you could not do this in Manchester, it takes a minimum of 5 months to get a badge here. Well to be honest, it takes 3 months to get an answer to an Email. That requires the help of an outside agency (Ombudsman)