TWO pioneering taxi-safety schemes have won praise from the mother of missing estate agent Suzy Lamplugh.

Blackburn with Darwen Council is working with private hire operators to put staff on town centre streets and Friday and Saturday nights to order taxis for people who would otherwise have to wait longer to get home.

It is aimed at stamping out the problem of taxi drivers touting for trade, the risk of bogus taxi drivers picking people up and subjecting them to sex attacks or trying to earn more money illegally.

Burnley's Private Hire Association, meanwhile, has launched a publicity drive urging lone women travelling home to text a friend when they get into a cab, giving the details of the driver's badge number and when they will get home.

The move comes after a taxi driver in the town was jailed for six years for raping an 18-year-old passenger.

Arshad Mahmood, 31, who worked for Hotline Taxis in Cow Lane, Burnley, attacked the teenager as he was taking her home from a Christmas party in January.

Diana Lamplugh set up the Suzy Lamplugh Trust to promote personal safety after her daughter, an estate agent, disappeared after going to show a mystery client around a house.

It has been presumed ever since her disappearance in 1986 that she had been murdered.

Mrs Lamplugh has urged people using taxis to be careful following a spate of sex attacks around the country by people pretending to be taxi drivers and picking up lone revellers.

Mrs Lamplugh said: "This is an issue I have been looking at for 19 years since I heard of a woman who was attacked, and it is still going on. That case was so horrific and upsetting -- and that was before we were talking about Suzy.

"I would like everybody to stop and think about what they are doing, where they are going and how they are getting back."

Mrs Lamplugh believes people can reduce the risks by taking simple steps such as booking their private hire ride home before they go out -- although Blackburn's Taxi Marshal scheme is set to help people who forget.

She also advises people to carry mobile phones or safety alarms so they can react quickly if attacked.

Only black cabs can pick people up off the streets.

Private hire vehicles can be ordered in advance, and they have special licence plates on the back.

Mrs Lamplugh said: "The message is 'stay safe and don't take unnecessary risks.'

"I am really boring, I have been going on and on about this and I won't let go. We are now working with eight government departments."

"People should go out and enjoy themselves knowing that they won't be taking any unnecessary risks."

London Taxis International, which makes black cabs, has also issued safety guidance to people travelling late at night. There is now one taxi-related sex attack a week in London.

Nicki Websper, sales and marketing director at LTI, said: "Bogus drivers prey on the fact that many people do not know to distinguish between a hackney carriage black cab, a licensed private vehicle and a totally unlicensed vehicle.

"At the end of the night, people are more interested in getting home than stopping to check what sort of vehicle they are getting into.

"Drivers of all licensed taxis and private hire vehicles undergo stringent checks before they receive their licence.

"People have no need to be afraid of travelling by taxi or hackney carriage, as long as they take a few seconds to check that the driver and the taxi are licensed."

Blackburn with Darwen Council has published a leaflet with tips on safe travelling. Although it is aimed at women, Coun Maureen Bateson, in charge of licensing at the council, said everyone could learn from them.

They urge people to wait in public areas, or inside a building, rather than on the street.

Coun Bateson said: "We have a good working relationship with all the borough's drivers and together we want to make travelling to and from the town centre as safe as possible."