Cab drivers breathed a sigh of relief after getting the green light to paint their taxis black, instead of pink.

Colchester's fleet of Hackney cabs will resemble London's world-famous black cabs, after proposals were rubber-stamped last night.

Town hall bosses had sparked a potential revolt by thinking of painting cabs in its corporate colour - lilac - last year.

But they gave into cabby power and decided on classy black instead.

Final details of the new-look cab colours were thrashed out at a meeting last night.

Ian Fraser, Hackney Cab Association chairman, welcomed the move.

"Considering the lilac and white we started with, we've got a good deal on the whole," he said.