Birmingham Airport cuts free parking drop-off time by 10 minutes

Taxi driver Dan Batkin said other drivers were also upset at the changes

Halving the free period of time allowed to drop passengers off at Birmingham Airport will cause hassle and cost customers more, a taxi driver says.

From Tuesday, it will cost £3 for those staying longer than 10 minutes, rising to £4 for those staying 15-20 minutes.

But Dan Batkin, who makes between 20 and 30 drops off at the airport each day, said he and other drivers were "up in arms" about the changes.

The airport said it would release more capacity within the car park.

Mr Batkin, from Cannock in Staffordshire, works for Corky's Cars, which operates an airport service.

He said there would be a backlog of traffic as people tried to leave the car park more quickly and bottlenecks at exits, potentially meaning drivers could be charged.

Birmingham Airport said 10 minutes was sufficient time to drop off passengers

"The [free] 20 minutes was sufficient before," he said.

"There were no queues, but now it's going to be more hassle than it's worth."

He added CCTV meant those dropping passengers off in the wrong areas could be fined.

"Ultimately it'll [the extra costs] be passed on to customers - they're already paying for holiday and a taxi, and now it'll be extra for this.

"There's no seasonal passes available for drivers - we're all just up in arms about it.

"We're taking customers to the airport and I feel like we're being punished for what we do every day."

An airport spokesperson said: "The 10 minutes is designed to allow customers sufficient time to drop off, as the car park is designed for.

"For customers wanting to pick up passengers, we would advise to use Car Park 1."