'Brotherhood' quick to help robbed taxi driver

Up to 20 taxis arrived on a central Auckland street within moments of hearing a colleague had been robbed by a well-dressed female passenger.

A witness, who described the drivers as "the brotherhood", said the driver gave chase with other passers-by, but lost the woman when she entered a house nearby.

Auckland Co-operative Taxis general manager Barrie White said the driver picked up the woman about 1pm outside the Comfort Inn & Suites on Newton Rd.

She told him she did not have any money to pay the fare, so he pulled over on Karangahape Rd to let her out.

"As he did, she took money out of the centre console and a bunch of taxi chits."

Rae Nield, who was walking along the road, saw the woman running towards her. She then saw the taxi pull over and the driver get out and begin chasing her.

The woman ran down West Tce, followed by "some vigilant young people" and into a house, disappearing out the other side of the property, Ms Nield said.

Police said yesterday they were still looking for her.

Ms Nield said the woman had long brown hair and looked to be of European descent.

"She wasn't a kid - probably late 20s, early 30s - and was moderately well-dressed so you wouldn't have seen her coming."

Other taxi drivers arrived within minutes to support the driver.

The taxi company installed a ring-on-arrival system in all of its cars after Auckland's January 31 taxi-driver murder, which prompted calls for improved security measures for drivers.