Taxi drivers are asking for fares to rise by four times the rate of inflation.

This would put 40p on the average £5 daytime journey - a rise of eight per cent when the underlying inflation rate is just two per cent.

The proposal has sparked fresh concerns about the safety of passengers unable to afford one of the city's 484 hackney carriages.

Representatives from Brighton and Hove's drivers said it would be the first increase for more than two years and they did not expect to lose customers.

But there were concerns it would undermine efforts to make late night travel safer for women.

Diana Horner, founder of women's business network The Swan Group, said: "As a businesswoman I can understand drivers may have to put their prices up if costs have become intolerably high but as a woman and a mother of a 15-year-old girl, this could mean women feel less likely to take a safe route home and so is not a positive move.

"If taxi fares are going up to that extent, a lot of people will think twice about getting a cab and so they need a cheaper alternative such as buses."

A poll of hackney carriage owners from six taxi organisations revealed two thirds were in favour of the rise, which is expected to have the knock-on effect of driving up fares in the city's 466 private hire vehicles.

Brighton Pavilion MP David Lepper said: "I worry that some people for whom taxis may be the easiest or the safest way of getting about could be put off because of this fare rise and that might not be good in the long run for taxi drivers themselves if it means less business."

Representatives of the city's 1,065 hackney carriage and private hire drivers pointed out their overheads were more expensive than in many areas of the country.

Drivers who spoke to The Argus yesterday said increased petrol prices and other running costs had made the rise inevitable.

James Tozer, 28, who has been a taxi driver for two years, said: "If they did the job, they would see it's a very hard job and we don't get enough for it."

He said taxi drivers worked long hours and put up with "mindless vandalism and abuse", particularly at night.

Andrew Charalambous, chairman of the Streamline 202020 taxi owner association, said: "It's a limited increase. We are not money-grabbing."

But pub workers voiced concerns a rise would discourage people from using taxis.

Jamie Flawn, assistant manager of The Black Lion pub in Black Lion Street, said: "We are a very female-orientated environment here. This would put them more at risk because some wouldn't pay the extra."

Customers agreed. Zoe Achilleas, 19, from Hove, said: "The taxis are too expensive as they are so I already use the bus."

The council's licensing committee will decide whether to approve the rise in March.