Uber now operates in more than 40 towns and cities across the UK, with tens of thousands of drivers and millions of riders using our app every week.

While cross-border driving is something the law allows for and is common in private hire journeys across England and Wales, we’ve heard from local licensing authorities that the way our app works can make it hard for them to oversee what some drivers are doing in their jurisdiction.

That’s why next month we are making a significant change which will mean drivers will only be able to use our app within the region where they are licensed as a private hire driver.

For example, a driver licensed by Leeds City Council would still be able to do trips with Uber in Wakefield, Bradford or anywhere else in the Yorkshire region, but not in Manchester, Birmingham or anywhere outside the Yorkshire region. A driver will still be free to choose where they want to drive, but to do so they will need to be licensed by an authority within the region where they want to drive.

While we will of course keep everything under review we believe this change strikes the right balance for the drivers, riders and cities we serve.

It will help local licensing authorities tackle the challenge they currently face in regulating drivers in their area when they are licensed in another part of the country; passengers will still be able to take affordable long distance trips (such as to and from airports, hospitals or back home after a night out in the city centre); and drivers will be able to carry out those longer trips without being forced to drive back without a fare paying passenger.