BLACK cab drivers have been told their proposals for new fare increases are unfair.

Council bosses rejected calls from the Bury Hackney Carriage Association (BHCA) to extend the late night tariff to cover the whole weekend, including the daytime on Saturdays.

This would force shoppers to fork out a minimum of £3.30 for a one mile journey, excluding waiting times, as opposed to the existing minimum charge of £2.70 for the same distance.

However, Hackney Carriages Farebay Ltd, based in Bury town centre, objected to the increased weekend tariff and has even called for the current fare tariff in force between 11pm on Saturday to 6am on Monday to be reduced to the lower tariff, citing an increase in demand from passengers during the day on Sundays.

The BHCA, which represents 98 of the borough's 120 self-employed black cab drivers, and Farebay were united in proposals to see the existing fares tariff for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve working increased from £3 for the first half a mile journey to £4 with the remainder of the distance charged at 20p per 80 yards compared with the current 10p per 50 yards.

At a special meeting of Bury Council's licensing and safety panel last week, councillors rejected the application for variations to the hackney carriage fare table saying some of the proposed fare increase were too high.

Mr Charles Oakes, chairman of the BHCA, said the high fare increases were designed to bring Bury in line with surrounding boroughs, including Manchester and Bolton He said: "The fares charged in Bury are well below the national average and a lot less than those charged by our colleagues in Bolton and Manchester. Unfortunately, we would need a big leap to bring the fares in line with neighbouring authorities and then future increases would be more reasonable."

Mr Oakes said the proposal for extending the weekend tariff to include Saturdays has now been withdrawn and talks are ongoing with the council to resolve the matter.

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