Taxi driver almost strangled with wire, teens 'take cab' in Townsville

Two teenagers are accused of almost strangling a taxi driver with wire before driving off in his taxi, sparking a 20-minute police chase on a north Queensland highway.

The teens, aged 18 and 19, jumped in the 62-year-old taxi driver's car in Townsville about 8:30pm Tuesday and began assaulting him, police said.

"Wire was also placed around the driver's neck, pulling him back into the headrest, before he was pulled from the vehicle and thrown onto the roadway," a police spokesman said in a statement.

The pair sped off in their stolen cab down the Bruce Highway and were spotted about 30 minutes later.

When they did not stop for police, officers pursued the cab for about 20 minutes until road stingers were laid.

The teens were stopped near Ayr, about 80 kilometres south of where they allegedly took the taxi.

Both appeared in the Townsville Magistrates Court today.

Neither applied for bail and they were remanded in custody to appear in court again in April.

The taxi driver is in hospital with minor head and arm injuries.