UBER has been given the green light to roll out across Brighton and Hove.

After four days deliberation Brighton and Hove City Council released the decision today to grant the firm a private hire operator’s licence in the city.

The council says it is minded to grant a licence for a year from its launch date, yet to be announced.

Councillors on the licensing panel met to discuss Uber’s application at a public meeting on Monday

Panel chair Cllr Mo Marsh said: “We want Uber to compete on a level playing field by signing up to the terms of the Blue Book. They made a commitment to do that in public and this one-year permission will test the strength of that commitment.”

Private hire vehicles are distinct from hackney carriages in that they must be booked in advance.

They cannot ply for hire in the street, wait at cab ranks or be hailed by passers-by.

Councillors on the panel have agreed Uber can operate initially for a year to test their commitment to meeting the city’s taxi service standards.

They would have to abide by all the conditions in the Blue Book – a set of guidelines for the local cab trade.

Uber stated at Monday’s meeting that they wanted to be treated the same as every other operator in the city.

They would only be allowed to send Brighton & Hove-registered drivers to pick up customers.

However at this stage they were not able to provide detailed information about commencement dates and service details. Work on these could not start until the firm was certain they would obtain a licence.

All Uber drivers will have to hold the same licence as any other private hire driver, which includes a check by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), successor to the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).

Uber representatives told the panel they were already licensed in 33 council areas in the UK, though not yet operating in all of them.