Asylum seekers have been banned from using taxis for most medical journeys, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced.

The Government said the new rules will restrict taxi use for medical travel to exceptional, evidence-based cases such as physical disability, pregnancy or serious illness.

Any such journey would require Home Office approval.

The decision follows a recent BBC investigation that found “widespread” use of taxis by asylum seekers, including for long journeys, with one case involving a 250-mile trip to see a GP.

Taxi drivers told the BBC the system was open to “abuse”, accusing sub-contractors of inflating mileage, for instance by dispatching drivers over long distances to perform much shorter journeys.

One told Radio 4’s Today programme he had been dispatched from Gatw

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