Taxi drivers working at Birmingham Airport are up in arms over the lack of toilet facilities for their use with one designated facility for around 300 cabbies using the waiting ranks.

The drivers claim that, if they complain about the problem, they have been threatened with having their £1,100-a-year contracts withdrawn and banned from the site by taxi management company Airport Ranks.

The firm has now pledged new facilities are in the pipeline but drivers say the current lack of toilets is "totally unacceptable".

A driver, who asked not to be named, said: "The current toilet facilities are for the use of taxi drivers only who often have to wait on site for two to three hours for a fare in a designated waiting overflow area or car park.

"Birmingham Airport has instructed the services of taxi management company Airport Ranks who provide taxi provisions for the airport and have 300 contracted hackney carriage licensed drivers from Birmingham and Solihull.

"These drivers pay £1,100 per annum to ply for hire and to use the facilities at the airport - they provide taxis 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

"The toilet issue has been ongoing for eight months and is clearly a health hazard as food is also being sold from a a joining Portakabin. One men’s toilet for the provision of 300 drivers is clearly inadequate."

The driver claimed management had refused to upgrade the facilities for months despite several requests from drivers.

"Drivers are forced to use these facilities and, if a driver requests management to address this situation, they are threatened that their contract will not be renewed and they can no longer work at the airport site."

A spokesman for Airport Ranks said: "New welfare facilities are being developed on an adjoining site for the taxi drivers to use and we hope these will be ready in the next few weeks.

"We will remind the drivers that they are able to use the facilities in the terminal in the meantime."