Taxi fare hike looms

Eastbourne Borough Council agreed to an application for an increase in hackney carriage fares in July but a complaint from a member of the public delayed the increases.

The proposal was being reconsidered today by the council's planning and licensing committee One taxi firm boss has said cab companies could have lost as much as £40,000 because of the delay.

David Stone-Cox, chairman of Eastbourne and Country Taxis, who proposed the prices, said the rise was vital to keep up with massive insurance costs for drivers.

He said: "There has been a huge increase. We have drivers being quoted £5,000 by companies to insure them. A driver in his mid- fifties with an HGV licence was quoted £2,500.

"The council's planning and licensing committee approved this rise in July but because someone complained it has been deferred."

The council received one letter objecting to the proposed increases from an elderly Eastbourne resident concerned the rising costs would prevent her from taking regular taxis to hospital.

But Mr Stone-Cox said that if the objector called a taxi to collect her from her home the taxi would be private hire and not a hackney carriage car.

If agreed, fares could rise by around 30p for a daytime journey with varying figures for trips after 9pm depending on mileage.

The highest increases would be between midnight and 3am with a mile fare rising from £2.90 to £4 and a five-mile journey increasing from £6.90 to £9.20.

Fares between 3am and 5am would be lowered by between 10p and 50p depending on the number of miles travelled.

Chris Islip, owner of Sussex Cars, which runs mostly private hire vehicles rather than hackney carriage taxis, could not believe the increase.

He said: "Our fares will not be going up to the price of the hackney carriage plates.

"I was astonished that some of the fares were increasing by as much as £2.30.

"A taxi is not a luxury for many people. But it will become one if the fares are increased."