Thousands of London black cab drivers are drawing up plans to sue Uber for more than £1bn, claiming that the ride-hailing app has caused them to lose earnings.

Members of the London Taxi Drivers' Association (LTDA) are looking into legal action against Uber which will claim that each driver has lost at least £10,000 for the last five years because of the way the company has operated.

If the legal action goes ahead, the LTDA will argue that all 25,000 black cab drivers are due compensation, potentially handing Uber a £1.25bn bill.

The LTDA has been in discussions with law firm Mischon de Reya about bringing the claim.

In a statement, the LTDA said: “We’ve been approached by a number of members to help them explore whether there would be grounds for a potential class action on behalf of all taxi drivers against Uber.

"We are in the very early stages of obtaining legal advice from leading law firm Mishcon de Reya on whether this is a possibility.

Uber controversies Show all 4 1 /4 Uber controversies Uber controversies June 2017 Travis Kalanick resigned from his position as CEO of Uber in July of this year, after a tumultous period for the company. A sexist workplace culture was exposed by a damning internal report, leading to heightened pressure on the CEO and consequently to him taking a leave of absence in June. A week later he was forced to resign after losing the confidence of the board of investors AFP/Getty Uber controversies June 2017 Indian police escort Uber taxi driver and convicted rapist Shiv Kumar Yadav following his court appearance in New Delhi on 8 December, 2014. An Uber executive, Eric Alexander, was fired in June of this year after reportedly obtaining the records of the rapist's victim, with the intent to cast doubt on her account of the incident. She later sued the company for defamation and violating her privacy rights Chandan Khanna/AFP Uber controversies May 2017 The company were ordered to pay up to $45 million dollars back to New York based drivers, after taking too much in commission over a two and a half year period. “We made a mistake and we are committed to making it right by paying every driver every penny they are owed, plus interest, as quickly as possible,” said Rachel Holt, Uber’s regional general manager in the US and Canada, to the Wall Street Journal Getty Uber controversies December 2016 Uber's self-driving cars were ordered to be removed from the roads by a Californian car regulator, after being spotted skipping traffic lights. Uber insist that the incidents were "human error" rather than a design flaw. The New York Times later refuted this in an article claiming the autonomous technology had in fact failed Youtube/KTVU

"We’ll continue to do everything we can to support our members and taxi drivers across London by exploring every avenue to ensure they are treated fairly.”

The news comes after Uber won an appeal last month against a decision by TfL to revoke its licence to operate in London operation.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court found that the company is now “fit and proper” to hold the licence, and granted the firm’s appeal after it agreed to an audit.

Uber requested an 18-month licence but was granted a probationary 15-month licence as opposed to the five-year licence it previously sought.

European Union categorises Uber as a taxi company forcing strict regulations

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, had argued that Uber was not “a fit and proper” holder of such a licence, partly because of its approach to reporting serious criminal offences.

The privately-owned company has come under fire from a growing army of critics in the UK who claim that it unfairly skews competition and that it has not done enough to crack down on incidents of violence involving drivers.

Unions have also criticised the firm for how it treats drivers. In 2016 the London Employment Tribunal ruled that Uber drivers were workers, not self-employed contractors as the firm had claimed.