May 9 (Bloomberg) -- London's black-cab drivers are growing pessimistic about the economy and say they're getting less business from bankers and lawyers, a survey of drivers showed.

In a quarterly poll of 500 cabbies by U.K.-based corporate- recovery specialist Begbies Traynor, the drivers said traffic between the City, London's financial district, and London's airports has declined and the number of calls to take bankers home from the office at night is on the wane.

``It looks to me like a worsening of attitudes,'' said Nick Hood, senior London partner at Begbies Traynor, in a telephone interview yesterday. ``There are signs of battle fatigue out there in the economy.''

London is the world's second-largest financial center after New York. Financial and business services employ 1.4 million Londoners, or about a third of the workforce. The city's economy has expanded on increased mergers and acquisitions and a five- year high in the FTSE 100 stock index.

Announced deals in Europe climbed about 10 percent to $501.7 billion in the quarter ended March 30 from $455.8 billion a year ago, according to Bloomberg data.

A report last month by Oxford Economics, a business consultant, said the city's gross domestic product, a measure of goods and services produced, will expand by 3.6 percent this year, slower than the 4.4 percent increase of 2006. Growth will slide to 3 percent in 2008 and rise to 3.9 percent in 2009, the report said.

Waning Optimism

Forty-three percent of the drivers in the survey said they were less optimistic about their business compared with three months ago. Only 19 percent said they were more optimistic.

The average length of fares has declined, and the number of riders picked up each day has fallen, according to the survey.

The number of road repairs and traffic delays is another major problem for drivers and a deterrent to would-be taxi customers, said Bernard O'Connor, a cabbie for 39 years. ``Now it takes ages to get about,'' said O'Connor, 70, in an interview near Finsbury Square in the financial district. ``So a lot of people figure they're better off walking.''

The poll has been done quarterly for three years, though it isn't scientific, Hood said.

``It's an interesting mirror of what's going on in London's economy,'' he said.

The city has 25,000 licensed cab drivers. Black-cab fares rose 3 percent last month. A 15-minute, four-mile trip costs 11 pounds ($22) during the day and 15 pounds after 10 p.m.

Hood said that cab drivers tend to be more optimistic in January and February, after the Christmas season, which is often the busiest for the cab trade.

Begbies Traynor provides financial restructuring and recovery services to companies and individuals.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Lysaght in London at blysaght@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 9, 2007 06:15 EDT