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Paris's taxi drivers are up in arms at a new breed of upstart minicabs who eschew the traditions of being rude and elusive. Taxi wars have erupted in Paris as the monopoly long enjoyed by the Frenchcapital's notoriously protectionist cabbies is being challenged by a new breed of bookable minicabs. Parisian taxi drivers get a bad press for being rude, playing loud music, almost never accepting credit cards and turning up for a booked ride with €10 already on the meter. They are also notoriously hard to find. Standing in a long queue at a taxi rank outside the Opera Garnier, one irate Parisian watched a string of cabs with the red "taken" light on their roof drive past, and exclaimed: "Taxis, taxis all around, but where's one when you need one." Martin Pietz, a German Paris-based photographer, said: "One or two drops of rain and there are no taxis at all. When you do stop one, they can be very rude and if it it's not on their way home or to lunch they often say: 'Take another one, I'm busy.' With just 18,000 vehicles, Paris' taxi fleet has remained virtually unchanged since the 1950s, while London's has swelled to around 23,000 black cabs and 40,000 minicabs. Despite the clear dearth, Paris' powerful taxi lobby has successfully fought off repeated attempts to deregulate the industry and bring in minicabs - usually by bringing the capital's main ring road to a total halt. | 
