COUNCILLORS have voted to increase the penalty for customers who vomit in the town’s taxis.

Warrington Borough Council’s taxi and other licensing committee considered four requests for a rise in the hackney carriage table of fares at its Town Hall meeting on Tuesday.

The last increase was back in 2014.

As of February 2020, the average fare in Warrington for a two-mile journey between 7am and 11pm totalled £5.20.

A price comparison chart compiled by Private Hire and Taxi Monthly ranked the borough number 325 out of 361 authorities in the UK.

Cabbie Dave Hatton, who proposed a tariff increase and an annual review of the fares, said: “It is quite embarrassing really, as Warrington is seen as a prosperous town, to be 325 out of as many as there is.”

“It’s quite a sad situation.”

The committee was told a joint proposal put forward by the four cabbies, following discussions between them, would result in an average percentage increase in fares of around seven per cent, with the fouling charge rising from £30 to £50.

Councillors were also informed about drivers experiencing people having too much to drink on Friday and Saturday nights in the town – and that the smell from sick ‘does not go away instantly’ and can stop drivers ‘working for a couple of days’.

The committee voted to increase the fares and fouling charge. It also backed the proposal for an annual tariff review.

The council is now required to publish a public notice detailing the proposed variations.

The changes will come into force if no objections are submitted.

If objections are received, the committee must consider them and decide whether to bring the changes into force, with or without modifications, within two months of the expiry of the objection period.

The fare increase will only apply to the town’s hackney carriages and not private hire vehicles.

A council spokesman added: “Private hire vehicles cannot charge more than the current tariff but they can choose to charge less.”

Following the committee meeting, Sagheer Zaman, who was among the four cabbies, said: “The trade have requested this due to increases in insurance premiums, the living wage and licensing fees over the years.”