Cabbies want fast fares rise

10:02am Monday 8th September 2008

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Drivers of black cabs in Oxford are set to demand their annual fare rise is brought forward because of the rising cost of diesel.

The drivers said the "extortionate" cost of filling Hackney carriages had swallowed profits and left them struggling to make ends meet.

Alan Woodward, secretary of City of Oxford Licensed Taxi Cab Association, plans to ask Oxford City Council to grant his drivers their annual pay increase two months early.

It means passengers could be hit in the pocket from December rather than February - although it is not yet known by how much.

Association chairman Matloob Hussain said: "We haven't got much choice, because otherwise we are not going to be able to carry on.

"After the last fare increase fuel went up and up - fuel prices are just extortionate."

Cab drivers were awarded an 8.43 per cent fare increase by the council's licensing officers in February. The previous increase was 1.2 per cent.

But Mr Woodward said February's increase was based on fuel costs from September 2007 - meaning all increases in the cost of diesel since then had been absorbed by the city's 360 licensed drivers.

Price comparison website petrolprices.com figures showed that this time last year drivers were paying an average of 96.5p for a litre of diesel in Oxford, compared with 124.9p now.

However, there has been some respite, as the figure has fallen from a peak of 132.9p in July.

Mr Woodward said: "It is costing the average cab driver an extra £100 a week from this time last year."

Passengers pay a £2.40 minimum fare - known as the flag fall - plus £1.10 a mile, or £1.30 a mile during unsociable hours, in Oxford.

Cab drivers at Oxford Rail Station explained their reasons for backing the rise.

Ashraf Malik, 72, of Cowley, said: "We are in a terrible state. We have to spend more hours on the rank and yet we have earned less money."

David Clinkard, of Kidlington, said: "It is hard out here. Everyone is feeling the pinch. We are all struggling, but I am too old to change jobs now."