A High Court judge has rejected calls by a 900-strong group of taxi drivers for a judicial review of a decision by London Mayor Ken Livingstone to force them to fit exhaust filters that they claim do not work for city driving.

The London Cab Drivers' Club was last night considering an appeal against a ruling by His Honour Judge Mole that its request for a review was "doomed to failure".

"We are looking at an appeal because we feel the judge came to entirely the wrong decision," said Alan Fleming, chairman of the club.

The cabbies sought permission for a review against the Public Carriage Office, which is controlled by the mayor of London's office, claiming that, having paid £2,300 each to fit the filters, the equipment became clogged, causing cabs to belch out black smoke.

This, the cabbies claimed, was because the filters failed to reach high enough temperatures at city driving speeds to burn off harmful diesel deposits. They made their claim after testing four cabs.

However, the judge found Mr Livingstone's strategy was reasonable and awarded costs to the PCO.

Mr Livingstone said: "This is a great victory in the effort to clean up London's environment by tackling pollution.

"The London Cab Drivers' Club are a small, unrepresentative group of taxi drivers who have long been opposed to my strategy to improve London's air quality."

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