A rickshaw driver pedals through traffic in London. [Photo by Luke Macgregor/Reuters]

Chinese visitors are advised to avoid London's pedicabs, or rickshaws, which are a common sight around the Leicester Square entertainment district, after reports of excessive charges, safety issues and links to the sex trade.

There are about 1,500 of the vehicles in the capital, all of which are unlicensed and unregulated. Many are uninsured.

Transport for London, the city's transportation regulator, wants the government to pass laws so it can control the vehicles, many of whose drivers are from Eastern Europe or North Africa, with little knowledge of London.

Stories of excessive fares and safety issues abound.

One rickshaw driver, who gave his name as Andris, said he had been working as a driver for six months after arriving as a student from Latvia.

"It's good money. Tourists are easy, because they don't bargain or ask for a price before you set off. One Chinese couple were charged 350 pounds each for a half-hour tour," he said while waiting with half a dozen other rickshaw drivers near London's Chinatown.

Wang, a waiter in a restaurant in Lisle Street, said a number of Chinese visitors to the restaurant complained about being pestered by rickshaw drivers.

"They are no good, they just make trouble," he said.

Another driver, who did not want his name mentioned, said he often makes more than 200 pounds on a Saturday night.

Many taxi drivers complain about the rickshaws.

"We don't see how you can regulate a vehicle that is blatantly unsafe in any environment," said Steve McNamara of the London Taxi Drivers' Association. "We had safety assessments done on rickshaws, and the Transport Research Laboratory would not even allow people to test them at more than 9 miles an hour."

On a busy Sunday evening in Soho, many of the vehicles were unlit and carried no means of identification.

One driver offered to take a customer from Leicester Square station to Charing Cross, a distance of about half a mile, for 50 pounds.

TfL said it is waiting for the government to introduce legislation to allow it to crack down on rickshaws.

Meanwhile the Evening Standard conducted an undercover investigation and found that some rickshaw drivers are paid by sex workers to bring them clients.

The newspaper carried a letter signed by a number of leading department stores and hotels, including Fortnum & Mason, The Ritz hotel and the Hippodrome Casino, urging the government to speed up legislation.

"We firmly believe pedicabs harm London's international reputation and need to be regulated without further delay," the letter said.