A former Uber driver who recently won a landmark case against the taxi giant has spoken about how “blessed” he feels at the ruling.

Yaseen Aslam, 35, is from High Wycombe and was one of two drivers who brought the recent employment case against Uber with trade union GMB on behalf of a group of 19 of its workers, who argued they were employed by the firm rather than being self-employed because they were “being told how to do their jobs”.

The judge ruled that Uber drivers, part of the so-called gig economy, are not self-employed and should be granted basic employment rights such as being paid the national minimum wage and getting holiday pay, which means thousands of Uber drivers will be able to claim lost earnings.

Uber said it will appeal the decision.

Mr Aslam, who started working for the company in 2013, said the ruling would protect drivers, some who told him were earning £5 an hour while working 16 hour days.

He said: “It was good when I first started – there were fewer drivers and more quality checks.

“Then in August 2014 we had all our bonuses taken away from us, and we didn’t have any right to appeal against a bad rating from a customer.

“The way they have the contract, we are the ones carrying the liability as drivers.

“This ruling really helps us because it helps drivers have a better quality of life. It means Uber can carry on reducing the fares but drivers will carry on earning well.”

When the married father-of-three first started working for Uber, he was working around 40 hours a week. He told the Free Press that the last time he worked for the company, that figure had increased to 70-hour weeks and he was taking home, on average, £500 a week before tax and expenses.

He said he was also frustrated at drivers not being given customers’ end location in advance and said he often ended up accepting jobs that were much further out than he was willing to drive and lost out on other jobs as a result.

He added: “You can’t have a company making so much money and deny workers basic rights.

“A lot of these taxi drivers are now speaking out and that is what I wanted to achieve.

“This was a hard battle. It was not easy to take on Uber who have a lot of money and power but we knew we were right and had the evidence.

“People need to understand that to get a service the workers need to be looked after.

“I was just really upset I wasn’t backed by Steve Baker who is my local MP. You expect more support from them especially when you are trying to do something right.”

In response, Mr Baker said: “There is a new kind of economy emerging and it is important that it should have a chance to flourish. The best way to promote prosperity and to make it work is to let the profit and loss system work.

“Self-employment should be clear and if restrictions are there they should be listed. I am completely opposed to exclusive zero-hour contracts but zero-hour contracts are a form of casual labour and casual labour is needed.

“I would say to remove any restrictions from drivers that prevent them from being strictly self-employed.

“I’m sorry he is upset but the issues at stake are quite complicated and I can’t just give my support to whoever asks for it, I have to look at all sides of it.”

Nigel Mackay from law firm Leigh Day, which represented the drivers, said other companies working in a similar way to Uber, such as Deliveroo, could now also be at risk of claims as a result of the ruling.

He said: “We think this is a very important achievement for those drivers who have been treated unfairly.”

Jo Bertram, regional general manager of Uber in the UK, said: “Tens of thousands of people in London drive with Uber precisely because they want to be self-employed and their own boss.

“The overwhelming majority of drivers who use the Uber app want to keep the freedom and flexibility of being able to drive when and where they want. While the decision of this preliminary hearing only affects two people we will be appealing it.”

Mr Mackay added: “It doesn’t just apply to the two drivers who brought the case to tribunal. They were test cases. There are 19 drivers in the claim.

“The judgement applies not only to the two drivers but to all the drivers working for Uber, including those in High Wycombe.

“Just because they said they are going to appeal, the judgement doesn’t change unless they win it – which we don’t think will happen.”