Hundreds of private hire drivers staged a three-hour walk-out in a row with Telford & Wrekin council licensing chiefs.

Council bosses today offered to hold talks with the private hire drivers in a bid to avoid a repeat of the strike which hit Christmas revellers at the weekend.

More than 250 private hire drivers refused to take any fares after 11pm on Saturday.

The action, on one of the coldest and busiest nights of the year, had been scheduled to last until 6am yesterday but the drivers were understood to have relented and gone back to work at 2am following pleas from anxious club owners.

The strike was the culmination of the dispute between the private hire drivers and Telford & Wrekin Council over “minor” licence violations.

Revellers were forced to find alternative transport with some braving the freezing temperatures to walk home.

The drivers, who claim they are being unfairly punished for minor transgressions, took their protests to the front doors of Telford’s main bars and nightclubs on Saturday night when they refused to pick up fares.

Councillor Jacqui Seymour, the council’s cabinet member for adults and community protection, had made a last-minute plea for the drivers to change their minds over the weekend’s action.

She had said the community needed to pull together during the economic downturn.

“Telford & Wrekin Council is prepared to meet local private hire drivers at any point to discuss the issues raised, although there is no confirmed time for talks at this stage.

“The council very much regrets any inconvenience to the public caused by this issue during the busy festive season and hopes that the drivers will reconsider their position.”

The weekend’s strike was called by the Telford Private Hire Drivers’ Association but no-one from the organisation was today available for comment.

Members had voted unanimously by private ballot to take the action after expressing a vote of “no confidence” in council licensing officers.

A spokesman for the drivers’ group said prior to the action: “This is nothing to do with the public. Our issue is exclusively a dispute with Telford & Wrekin Council licensing department and a vote of no confidence.

“We have decided to take the action because enough is enough.”