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A sickening attack on a taxi driver was filmed by laughing passers-by as he was beaten in the cab of his car, in a video later shared on social media.

Derby taxi driver Shahid Iqbal was bitten and punched in the "horrific" and "brutal" ordeal which allegedly stemmed from a woman refusing to pay her taxi fare.

He said the woman was drunk and had tried to take control of the wheel before he dropped her at an address in Normanton, which is where he was attacked by her and another man, reported the Derby Telegraph .

Mr Iqbal, 50, who works as a freelance driver for National Cars said part of the sickening incident was filmed by bystanders and put on social media.

(Image: Facebook / STR8 OUTTA Normanton)

He said: "There was a man and a woman who I picked up and I was taking them to an address in Normanton but I wish I had not. It was a horrific journey.

"On the way, the woman put her feet on the dashboard, I politely asked her why and if she could put them down.

"She didn't like that and then told me they did not have any money for the fare. Despite this, I took her to a cash point and asked her to get some money out.

"But, without going to it, she said it didn't work.

"The man told her to pay me but she said she did not have money.

"I carried on driving but then she suddenly lunged across me and tried to take the steering wheel. She said she wanted to drive and she was pushing me."

Mr Iqbal, who has been a taxi driver for 10 years, said that was when the early-hours journey turned nasty.

He added: "The woman then started to demand money from me. She said, 'give me £80 for my children'.

(Image: Facebook / STR8 OUTTA Normanton)

"It was crazy," he continued. "I said just pay me and go. She then just lunged at me and started to hit me.

"She grabbed my phone and started to bite it. I then phoned 999 and told them what was happening.

"She then went for me again and bit my arm. She was then pushing me and forced me out of the taxi and into the street.

"I tried to stop her but then the man with her started to get angry. He kept shouting, 'why are you pushing her'.

"She then hit me twice quite hard. He followed that with two really hard punches which were brutal. I fell to the floor and I was in agony."

Throughout this, a bystander recorded the incident on video, but Mr Iqbal said he did not try and help.

Mr Iqbal said the woman then tried to throw a wheelie bin at his head. He added: "I made another 999 call and then, shortly after, the police attended. The man and woman ran away.

"What I went through was horrific and totally unjustified. I work very hard and I do not deserve these things to happen. It was terrible.

"I cannot understand why anybody would do that. Thankfully I was OK but it could have been much worse.

"I was gutted when I saw it on social media. Nobody came to help me that night. I was attacked on my own and I remember there being a group of people there and somebody recording it.

"I have since seen the video online and I think it's a total disgrace that somebody has done this."

A spokesman for Derbyshire police said a 23-year-old woman had been arrested in connection with the incident.