Boris Johnson has warned that it would be "difficult" to ban the controversial cab app Uber, which has angered taxi drivers so much that they last week brought the capital to a standstill.

The London Mayor told reporters that he could understand taxi drivers' concerns, but admitted any attempt to ban Uber would risk a judicial review.

"I think it's a very difficult [question]," he told reporters at the launch of London's Tech Week. "We've gone to the high court to get a ruling on this, and the issue is basically: is the driver's mobile in the cab equivalent to a taxi meter? I can see why m'learned friends might think that it is, because it's receiving data about, or it's calculating, the distance and time and the fare.

"And there are other lawyers who say that it isn't, and that was the advice of the counsel to TfL. And so we've got a legal problem."

Black cab and licensed taxi drivers who went on the protest said the app was leading to unlicensed drivers being contacted, with no checks on whether they are legitimate.

Protesters in Trafalgar Square chanted "Boris, Boris, Boris, out, out, out", while taxi drivers beeped their horns as demonstrators held placards.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/06/16/boris-johnson-uber-london-difficult_n_5498908.html