London mayor Sadiq Khan will crack down on illegal taxi and minicab operating in the capital by quadrupling the number of patrol officers.

An extra 250 visible compliance officers will be recruited by September 2017, expanding the team to 332, in a bid to make London’s streets safer and stamp out the illegal touting affecting the capital’s taxi and private hire firms.

The new officers will be funded through changes to private hire operator licensing. This is deemed the fairest method as it means that larger taxi firms pay a greater share of enforcement costs.

Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, welcomed the “fantastic news”, adding that it is “so refreshing to have a mayor who recognises the danger posed to the travelling public by illegal minicab activity”.

Steve Burton, Transport for London’s director of enforcement and on-street operations, said the team expansion will provide Londoners “with additional reassurance and also sends a message to those not complying with the law that they will be caught and dealt with robustly”.