York has refused to grant ride-hailing app Uber a licence to continue operating in the city.

A committee at the City of York Council cited the number of complaints it had received about the service and a recent well-publicised data protection breach as reasons for the decision.

The company has 21 days to make a decision on whether to appeal the committee's decision and can continue to operate in York until its licence expires or the appeal is heard.

The 7-3 vote of the Gambling, Licensing and Regulatory Committee was greeted by applause and cries of "thank you" from the public gallery on Tuesday night.

It comes after Transport for London (TfL) refused to renew Uber's licence on the grounds of "public safety and security implications" in September and Sheffield suspended the company's licence last week.

Saf Din, chairman of the York Hackney Carriage Drivers Association, told the meeting Uber was "systematically abusing" the local laws and "looking for loopholes" by using out-of-town vehicles.

Uber's licence was due to expire in York on Christmas Eve this year. The firm had twice previously been granted clearance to operate - most recently on December 21 2016.

Last month it was revealed that Uber had been the subject of a massive data breach which affected 2.7 million UK users of its app.

Hackers obtained personal details of 57 million customers and drivers worldwide, including people's names, email addresses and mobile phone numbers.

Uber initially tried to cover up details of the hack, and did not inform customers of the breach.

The hacking attack and the company's response was also cited by councilors in their refusal to grant a new licence.

Neil McGonigle, head of cities for the north of England for Uber, told councillors there were 28,000 people who regularly use the app in the city.

He said they had seen a "steady increase" in the number of users over the last year in his evidence to the council.

He added the company had been "open and cooperative" with the council in tackling issues, including where drivers have applied for hire illegally.

A report provided to the meeting at the City of York council offices said that in the previous 12 months, the authority had received 296 complaints about hackney carriage and private hire vehicles, of which more than half related to Uber drivers.

Details of the specific complaints were not made public.

Sheffield City suspended the company's licence on December 7 after the firm failed to respond to requests for information about its management.

Uber is allowed to continue operating in the city until December 18, and if it chooses to appeal the suspension, it can function until that has been heard.