Taxi drivers in Brighton and Hove are preparing for the first ever competition to test their driving skills.

The city's first Taxi Driver Of The Year contest will take place on Sunday, with cabbies swerving around an obstacle course in Madeira Drive.

Drivers Jeff Howell and Andy Charalambous will be entering the competition, with £3,000 up for grabs for the winners.

Andy said: "I'm really looking forward to it. It's a great chance to get the cab drivers together and have a bit of fun - and it's all for charity."

Money raised from the competition will go to The Argus Appeal and Brighton-based children's charity The Rockinghorse Appeal.

The men, who work for Streamline, have been driving taxis around Brighton and Hove for about 15 years.

Jeff has traced his family ties to Brighton back to the 1640s, when the Howell's began working in the once thriving fishing industry.

His ancestors include philanthropists who ran Howell's Alms Houses for the poor and a highwayman hanged for robbing stagecoaches in the mid-1700s.

Jeff said: "He got a crowd of 14,000 for his hanging, which is more than the Albion get on a good day.

"I was a full-time fisherman but the industry was in decline and no other jobs were open to me so I trained as a taxi driver.

"Even though I'd lived in Brighton all my life, I never really knew it until I started driving a cab."

Jeff has driven famous faces such as scientist Lord Winston, actress Julie Walters and union leader Arthur Scargill.

Jeff said: "As I was driving Arthur Scargill down the seafront an old lady fell over. He made me stop the cab to help her up. When she realised who it was, she was on her feet and off like a shot."

Andy has not only driven actors and actresses around Sussex, he's played a cab driver as an extra in the BBC's Judge John Deed.

He is the chairman of their taxi association, Streamline.

Andy said: "Taxi drivers own this association. We're a sort of co-operative with 105 full members. It's a non-profit organisation run for the benefit of the members who have a vote."

Dating back to 1936, when a large bell was used to attract drivers to their base in Palmeira Square, the firm also has a proud history.

Andy said: "We're the oldest taxi firm in the city by about three months. We used to have black cars with white bonnets and wore a suit and a hat, collar and tie.

"We still have a dress code of a shirt and collar, no jeans or trainers. I think it's fantastic - you're talking to barristers one minute then people from a housing estate the next."

A presentation dinner for the charities is at the Hilton Metropole Hotel, on Monday, April 3.

For more details, visit www.brighton-taxi-events.co.uk