The pedicab drivers, who still tout for business outside hotels with fleets of Mercedes, occupy a similar niche market in Asian capitals today.

ECONOMIST: Pukkah hotels

But Friedl Schroeder who runs the BugBugs pedicab company said pedicabs needed licensing, not banning.

BBC: Pedicabs law change call by London mayor Boris Johnson

In the past 12 months there have been 365 arrests of pedicab drivers for offences including dangerous riding and cycling on a footway, TfL said.

BBC: Pedicabs law change call by London mayor Boris Johnson