Taxi drivers call on Worcester City Council to increase fares

A taxi driver in Worcester said having to wait until June for the council to discuss their fare rise request was "unacceptable"

Taxi drivers in Worcester have claimed their trade will die out unless the council agrees to increase fares.

Drivers have asked the local authority for an increase for the first time since 2017.

Dozens of people attended a Worcester City Council licensing committee meeting on Monday.

Councillors, however, were told the request had been submitted too late to be discussed until the next meeting in June.

The proposed increase could see prices rise by as much as 40%, drivers said.

Their basic fare is £3.60 for the first three-quarters of a mile (1.2km) and 10p for each 100m (109yds) after that, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Driver Mohammed Sajad said the delay in discussing the fare rise was "unacceptable" and "unfair on the trade".

Haris Saleem from Worcester Taxi Drivers Association said the industry was "suffering" and a rise in fares was desperately needed.

"If we wait until June I think the trade will die or people will be looking for other jobs. That I can assure you," he said.

The council's director for operations, homes and communities, Lloyd Griffiths, said the request had been made, but council officers needed to carry out research.

"In all fairness to the drivers, the information has been submitted, but we can't just put that into your laps without some sort of context," he told councillors.