Melbourne taxi driver caught reading newspaper while driving

A carefree Melbourne taxi driver has been filmed catching up on the morning's headlines while driving.

Passenger Paul Tully, a councillor at Ipswich Council in Queensland recorded the footage of the cabbie reading a newspaper as he drove in the Melbourne CBD on Tuesday afternoon.

Cr Tully, who posted the video on YouTube under the title, “Is this Australia’s Worst Taxi Driver?” said he noticed the man driving erratically earlier in the trip but was shocked when he took both his hands off the wheel.

In the 16 second video, the taxi driver appears to be reading the weather forecast.

Cr Tully said the driver picked up the newspaper after he asked him about the weather.

"I thought it was bad enough people texting and talking on phones but reading newspapers while driving through Melbourne CBD is rather bizarre," the councillor told Radio 3AW.

"It's certainly a new meaning of driving hands-free."

A spokesman for SilverTop Taxi said the company was investigating the incident.