Uber has begun a court case in London as it seeks to renew its operator licence.

Officials in the capital last year refused to renew the licence on grounds of public safety and security, a decision which Uber subsequently appealed against.

Today at Westminster Magistrates’ Court the company will make its case that the licence should be renewed.

The company argues it has made significant changes, such as improving procedures for reporting criminal actions.

The court will take the changes made by Uber into account and decide whether it is now fit to hold an operator licence.

The hearing is expected to last several days.

Justin Bowden, national secretary at GMB, the union for taxi drivers, told the BBC: “Uber lost its licence in London because it refused to play by London’s rules, particularly on the crucial issue of passenger safety, and it won’t get it back until it accepts that an ‘Uber’s way, or no way’ attitude to safety and its drivers will not prevail.”

According to the firm, 3.6 million passengers regularly use its app in London and it has 45,000 drivers in the city.

Since being denied a licence to operate in London, Uber has implemented a number of changes.

Uber now reports crimes directly to the police - previously it had logged criminal complaints with Transport for London, which caused delays.

Drivers are now only allowed to use the app in the region they hold a private hire licence.