Taxi drivers in Northumberland could go on strike amid a bitter row over fare increases, it has been suggested.
Council bosses recently agreed to allow a five per cent hike in fare prices for Hackney carriages which came into force this week. But the move has come in for criticism from operators who say it does not go far enough to cover their spiralling fuel and maintenance costs, with Northumberland’s largest association of drivers branding the decision “disrespectful”.
County hall chiefs have now been warned that the dispute could escalate into a drivers’ strike. Bywell councillor Holly Waddell claimed at a full council meeting on Wednesday to have “heard talk from taxi drivers of a strike” and asked if Tory-run local authority would support them in that or in lobbying the government for more support.
