Skegness taxi fares to rise for second time in a year

Fares were last increased in September 2021

Taxi fares in part of Lincolnshire are to go up for the second time in a year with drivers blaming rising prices and the conflict in Ukraine.

The Skegness Taxi Association asked East Lindsey District Council for the price hike to enable them to "keep up".

Councillors were told when rates increased in September inflation was 3%, but had risen to 7%.

The rise means drivers will be able to charge £4.00 for the first 1,000 yards - an increase of 60p.

Call-out charges and fees for carrying additional passengers will also go up.

'It's only fair'

In a letter to the council, the chairman of Skegness Taxi Association Darrell Blackburn wrote: "Due to the ongoing situation in Ukraine everything has gone up in price for everybody so therefore we feel that it's only fair for us to increase our fees, so we can simply try to keep up with current prices.

"Our service costs are constantly going up, along with gas and electricity prices and we must therefore increase our charges to allow for these increases."

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, council officer Adrian Twiddy told councillors the price of fuel had "risen considerably, particularly in February and March" and added firms were finding it "challenging" to do long-distance journeys.

Members of the licensing committee were concerned about how the rises would impact hospital runs, with Councillor Sarea Parkin saying the call-out charge increase might be a "step too far".

She said: "A lot of people don't have a choice other than taxi service at times.

"We've to to balance out the price and the needs of some of our residents."

Councillor Andrew Leonard said: "We've got to be realistic… the costs that go along with running a vehicle are adding up and nothing comes for cheap anymore - the world has changed."

Although the rise was approved by members, they rejected plans to allow drivers to charge time-and-a-half on Sundays.