Flickr/Lars Plougmann London's black cab drivers paid private detectives to pose as Uber customers in order to dig dirt on the company.

The revelation is part of a massive court case between the London Taxi Driver Association (LTDA) and the divisive taxi booking app, the Evening Standard reports.

This year the LTDA launched a private prosecution against Uber. Black cab drivers, who have long dominated London's streets, are angry about the rise of San Francisco-based Uber, which is undercutting traditional services by up to 50%.

The LTDA claims Uber's fare calculator is basically a taxi metre, and that taxi metres are only legal in licensed black cabs, the Standard explains. The High Court is set to rule one way or another on the issue.



In the meantime, The Sunday Times reports the taxi association has enlisted undercover investigators to spy on Uber and see how its drivers pick up passengers and work out fares. Steve McNamara, the general secretary of the LTDA, told The Sunday Times: "In order to prosecute them we obviously had to get evidence and ride in the cars and private detectives and all of that."