Two marshalled taxi ranks launched on a major road on Friday (October 31) to promote safer travel during the night.

From midnight, Taxi Marshalls set up at two posts on Kingsland Road amid Dalston’s throbbing nightlife to assist late night travellers in getting home.

Advisors were on hand to give passengers tips, assist them in flagging licensed cabs and coordinate with taxi travellers going to similar destinations.

The company have been running for 10 years with 12 sites around the capital but this is the first time that the initiative has been trialled in Hackney.

The scheme is part of the Mayor of London’s safer travel at night project, led by Transport for London (TfL) and backed by Hackney Council.

Taxi Marshalls director, Tony Adams, said: “We stand at the ranks. One is at the end by Ridley Market and the other is up the road, on the corner. If someone comes up to us, we can give you a price and we can flag down a taxi, or might have one waiting.

“It’s a nice touch as Kingsland Road has become very popular at night but it isn’t great for transport. We can help.

If you go our with your friends, you haven’t pre booked a vehicle and you are in an area you don’t know but you have to get to A to B, we are making people feel a bit a safer on the streets.”

Helen Chapman, general manager for taxi and private hire for TfL said: “We are working in partnership with the London Borough of Hackney to offer late night marshalled taxi ranks to allow people to get home safely. “We are currently trialling this at two locations in Dalston until 20 December. We put safety as a major consideration and urge all Londoners travelling home late at night to take a pre-booked private hire vehicle or hail a taxi.”

Full addresses for the Dalston locations are: in the loading bay outside Boots, E8 2NS, near Dalston Kingsland Stationand in the loading bay near Birthdays, N16 8BJ

Both taxi ranks operate between 19:00 and 07:00 and are in loading bays that operate in the daytime.