Uber rival Bolt looks set to launch in Preston offering phone super-app to book a taxi

The app-based cab firm has been given permission to open a bureau near the Dock Estate to add Preston to its UK network. And that could mean yet more competition for the city's black cab fleet.

Bolt, like Uber, allows customers to order via an app on their mobile phone, connecting up with an individual driver nearby, seeing how much the fare will be in advance and then paying up-front for their journey. The firm also offers fast food and grocery deliveries, scooter hire and car sharing.

Bolt claims to have been Europe's first mobility super-app, with more than 100m users in 45 countries around the globe. It was founded in 2013 by a 19-year-old Estonian student with just 50 drivers. It currently operates in 18 cities in the UK including London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Newcastle and Manchester.

Uber, which says it is the world's leading ride-hailing app, was launched in 2009 in San Francisco, came to the UK in 2012 and is now in around 70 countries. But in the Preston area it operates only indirectly through two established private hire firms as Local Cab.

Bolt Services UK Ltd has been granted a Certificate of Lawfulness to open its base in Preston, changing offices in Unit 5 of Albert Edward House near the docks into a private hire licensed operating centre. In its application Bolt said it was "very different to traditional taxi/minicab/private hire operations in that it does not have radio masts, flashing lights, signage or waiting rooms for customers and drivers, vehicles, counter services or large numbers of visitors.

"Bolt is a technology based ‘app only’ platform connecting passengers to drivers to complete their journeys. Customers download the app and register a credit or debit card in order to use its services.

"Once a passenger requests a trip, the system will allocate the trip to a nearby driver. Once completed, customers' cards are debited for the cost of the journey and the driver is paid electronically. The end-to-end process is completed digitally, requiring no physical presence unlike in a traditional operating centre.

"The office will be used for administrative purposes and to provide access to Bolt’s driver, vehicle and booking records, which are held digitally. It will also be used to provide access to its cloud-based technology, which automatically accepts and allocates bookings.

"The office will be used during normal office hours of 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday. Bolt expects less than one visitor to the office per month and the premises will not be accessible by the public. There will be no passenger-driver interactions held at the unit, nor will there be any cars on site waiting, or private hire vehicles registered to this address."

Planning officers at the city council decided that the proposed new use of the offices was permissible and the company would not be required to seek planning permission to start up.