BASILDON Council has handed out 40,000 free face masks to licensed taxi drivers across the borough.

The face masks are being offered for free to taxi drivers to help keep them and customers safe following the spread of the new ‘Omicron’ variant.

The Department for Transport offered local authorities thousands of free masks for councils to hand out to licence holders.

Councillor Daniel Lawrence, chairman of the licensing committee, was in public this week helping to hand them out across the borough.

He said: “It was a pleasure to go out to deliver these face masks with our licensing officers and we hope to issue another 40,000 by the end of the year.

"They are vital in keeping our drivers and residents safe and limiting the spread of infection.

"We are also asking that everyone remains respectful in their use.”