It used to be said that they didn't go south of the Thames, but now 500 black cabs are going east of the Bosphorus, after a big order from Azerbaijan.

London Taxi Company is selling the cabs to the Azeri ministry of transport, adding to a fleet of 1,000 TX4 cabs bought in 2011.

Since then, LTC's former owner Manganese Bronze has collapsed into administration amid problems with its steering mechanism, but was bought by China's Geely.

The firm is barred from revealing the deal value, but a TX4 Hackney carriage, pictured, sells for [pounds]37,000, with an order of 500 likely to secure a big discount on the [pounds]18.5m book value.

(Daily Mail)

Bakudaily.az