Taxi firms in Burnham-On-Sea are bearing the brunt of soaring fuel costs and are angry that the district council – which oversees passenger fares – is not helping them more.
Petrol costs have soared in Burnham by 8% for unleaded and 14% for diesel since the start of the year – and local taxi firms are at the forefront of local businesses feeling the pinch.
Chris Gammon of Express Taxis told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Rising fuel costs are a nightmare for all taxi firms and the problem just seems to be getting worse and worse.”
“We’re all the feeling the pinch, and because our fares are overseen by the district council, we’re not able to increase our prices to maintain our margins.”
He said that a recent taxi fare increase – reported here on Burnham-On-Sea.com – has provided little comfort.
“The council did give us a tiny 5% increase in fares, but that was the first for two years so it effectively is a 2.5% increase,” said Chris.
“As a further knock to us, the council has just recently increased the cost of our annual test fees by 100% to £60, which is ridiculous. It’s bad timing and further hurts taxi firms.”
Sedgemoor District Council spokesman Tony Baker told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The test fee hasn’t gone up enough in recent years and an increase was overdue. Also, the tax payer previously subsidised the test fees and, as the rules have changed, the costs are now passed onto the firms themselves.”
He added that taxi fare increases are not out of the question in coming months in the district. “We respond to requests for increases from the trade association. If they make an application, we will consider it.”
Burnham-On-Sea.com understands that some local taxi firms are turning down short trips locally because they are no longer financially viable. It costs more for some taxi firms to travel to customers than is earned from the fare itself on short trips.
