A taxi driver who attacked two female passengers with a spanner has been stripped of his operating licence for a second time.

Naseem Khan, of Southgate Drive, Crawley, was convicted of assaulting the women after he drove them to Horsham in 1999.

He says they refused to pay and admitted hitting one woman with the spanner, saying he lost his temper when she called him a "black bastard".

Crawley magistrates sentenced Khan to 12 months in prison last year but he won an appeal against the ruling and was given a two-year suspended sentence.

This year, magistrates gave Khan back his operating licence but Crawley Borough Council appealed against the decision.

Khan told the court: "I asked them politely to give me my fare. The man punched me and I punched him back. We got into a fight and the others were hitting and kicking me.

"I went back to the car and got the spanner, I wanted to threaten him. The man ran off and I went to one of the women and asked for my fare.

"Then she said, 'Shut up you black bastard'. I just lost it at that time. I hit her and then kicked her."

Ranjit Vhose, prosecuting for the council, told Lewes Crown Court Khan had also broken the rules by touting for business outside a club.

Khan's licence was revoked and he was ordered to pay £1,000 costs to the council.