night taxi robberies.

One veteran driver said: "I've got a good length of pipe in the taxi and I'll use it if I have to.

"I work hard for my money and no young thug is going to take it away from me.'' The cabbie, who asked not be named, was speaking after the second mugging of a taxi driver in less than two days.

Taxi Federation chiefs are to call a special meeting of drivers tonight to discuss safety.

And Taxi Federation chief Joe Brown admitted it was now time to consider plexiglass screens between the front of cabs and the passenger area -- a move previously dismissed as "un-Bermudian''.

Public Safety Minister Quinton Edness said he would be looking at the use of tracking equipment and panic buttons for under-threat taxi drivers.

And Transport Minister Wayne Furbert said the use of a decoy cab manned by a Police officer could be used to trap attackers.

The news came as a driver was punched around and robbed of $70 by two men on Ord Road just after 1 a.m. on Sunday morning. The two men had been picked up on Reid Street.

Police have issued descriptions of the two men involved in the Ord Road incident.

Both were white men, one around five feet ten inches tall, weighing around 170 pounds. He was wearing a tan-coloured baseball cap, a navy blue golf shirt and shorts. The other was around the same height, but of a heavier build, weighing around 200 lbs. He had dirty blond hair and was wearing a white T-shirt and green shorts.

And in the early hours of Friday morning, a 37-year-old driver was robbed at knifepoint in Sunnyside Park after picking up two men in Middle Road, Warwick.

The driver was on his way to Horseshoe Road when the men demanded money. One pulled a knife while the other grabbed cash.

The two escaped on foot. The driver, although badly shaken, was not hurt during the ordeal.

Mr. Brown said: "These things have been the talk of the industry. There's been a rash of them and we're very concerned.

"One of the biggest things we have been thinking about is plexiglass barriers. They have been recommended to us and Police have even come up with a couple of demonstration barriers.'' But he said -- because of the van-based bodies of most Bermudian taxis -- if adopted, the screens would have to be tailor-made to fit.

But Mr. Brown urged caution over the carrying of weapons in cabs -- which is illegal.

He said: "We are certainly going to be discussing self-defence -- the Police are in sympathy with us, but they are trying to assist us in a way which doesn't get anyone into trouble, which could happen through carrying a weapon.'' And he warned: "We could get so paranoid, we could become the aggressor. The Police don't want that and we don't want that.'' Mr. Edness said: "We want to meet with taxi drivers and dispatching companies because this trend towards attacking and holding up taxi drivers is just not on -- we can't have it.'' He suggested panic buttons linked to Police so drivers could summon help quickly if they are attacked.

He said: "We could get a Police car to them in a hurry to stop a robbery happening or at least catch the culprits very quickly.

"The culprits have got to be caught, but more than that, we have to give some kind of protection to these drivers.'' Mr. Furbert added: "These cowardly attacks on one of Bermuda's biggest tourist attractions are getting out of hand. We have got to do something -- Bermuda can't be terrorised like this.'' Mr. Brown blamed drug users desperate for cash for most robberies of taxis and grocery stores.

He said: "We know people with ready cash are targets and we know it's mostly drug-related.'' CRIME CRM