Plain-clothes officers approached Mohammed Kabir, in Broadway, at 10.38pm, on April 14, and he agreed to take them to the East of England Showground in Alwalton.

Private hire cars must be pre-booked through the company’s operator.

In addition, the cabbie was not wearing his private hire identification badge, and he was subsequently charged on both counts.

Kabir, of Bourges Boulevard, Peterborough, pleaded guilty at the city’s Magistrates’ Court last Thursday to both charges. He was fined £75 for each offence, ordered to pay prosecution costs of £200 and a victim surcharge of £15.

Pervaiz Akhtar, of Williamson Avenue, West Town, Peterborough, was caught after picking up officers at 1.27am on April 15, at the bus stop next to Woolworth’s, in Bourges Boulevard, and agreeing to take them to Stanground, Peterborough.

He entered a guilty plea by post for last Thursday’s hearing and was fined £75, ordered to pay prosecution costs of £200 and a victim surcharge of £15.