'Ripped off by £10-a-mile taxis'

Chris Osuh
1/ 5/2008

UNITED fans claim they are being ripped off by taxi drivers charging sky-high fares for journeys back to the city centre.

Black cab drivers are demanding up to £20 for a journey of less than two miles between Old Trafford and Deansgate.

The M.E.N. has alerted licensing bosses who have launched an investigation.

We caught one cabbie in the act after United's Champions League semi-final victory over Barcelona. He not only charged £20 but was operating illegally because he only has a Bury licence.

On the way to Tuesday's game the M.E.N. was charged just £5.70 for the trip from Deansgate to Old Trafford.

But the driver with the Bury licence demanded nearly FOUR times as much for the journey back. He was approached by an M.E.N. reporter while waiting with his light on at White City Retail Park at 10.15pm.

The driver said he was charging a flat rate `because of the traffic' and asked for it upfront.

Margaret Littlewood, 64, from Failsworth, and her son Glenn, 36, were charged £20 for the same journey after the Reds clash with AS Roma earlier this month.

She said: "On the way to Old Trafford we paid £6 from Deansgate. After the game we asked four drivers on Chester Road and all of them said the trip would cost £20 and switched off their meters.

"We had to pay it in the end - though the journey only took four-and-half minutes. I have been a fan for 50 years and have never seen anything like this."

Trafford licensing bosses are taking legal advice on the over-charging. Drivers can legally agree a fare with passengers, but it has to be `reasonable', and less than the meter cost.

Meanwhile, enforcement officers are cracking down on the problem of non-Trafford drivers illegally plying for hire. The details of the Bury cabbie have been passed to Trafford licensing chiefs.

A spokeswoman said: "Trafford Council regularly monitors illegal plying for hire in the borough and where evidence is found we will prosecute.

"If passengers have concerns they should record the details on the vehicle taxi licence plate, namely its number and its licensing authority and pass this information to the council."

Bury council's Gerry Kelly said the authority would work with Trafford on their investigation and that if convicted, the driver would go before a panel who could take his licence.

Charles Oakes, chairman of Bolton, Bury and Preston Hackney Carriage Association, said the problem was caused because the region was `saturated with taxis' competing for a small pool of work.

Speaking of the driver caught out by the M.E.N, he said: "He could lose his livelihood. It's likely that he wouldn't be insured because he's breaching his licence conditions."