A cabbie has revealed the 'dire' state of the industry, and said an increase in fares of up a third approved by Wirral Council on Wednesday was 'completely fair and justified.'

David Vose was speaking after a rise approved by Wirral Council saw black cab fares rise, but said it would help overworked black cab drivers on 80-hour weeks just to make a simple wage.

He said: “What people don’t understand is the outgoings and costs we have. The industry isn’t rolling in money – we are actually often working below the minimum wage.

“I did a feasibility study in 2010 showing it takes over 32 hours to cover just the costs and your wage, and that’s got a lot worse since 2010 to where we are now.

“Sometimes people jump in a cab to go round the corner and they’re not happy that it’s a £4.50 fee, but they don’t realise we’ve waited an hour for that job.

“I think this rise is completely fair and justified.”

Mr Vose has been driving Hackney Carriages for 28 years, and also gave his views on why the industry in Wirral, in particular, has suffered.

He said: “The industry is in the worst state now that I’ve ever seen it. The main reason is that Birkenhead is in decline. There’s no investment being put into the town. We’ve lost out ever since Liverpool became the Capital of Culture in 2008.

“We just started to go downhill. People would go out in the evening and to the theatre and places like that, but never in Birkenhead or Wirral, always Liverpool.

“There’s no investment being put into Birkenhead at all. In 2010, my rank was doing 2.17 jobs per hour. Now we are 1.5 jobs per hour.

“Drivers are working in excess of 80 hours per week just to make a decent wage. It affects your quality of life, working day and night.”

Speaking at Wednesday’s meeting, Unite representative Derek Cummins said while the rise seemed “quite excessive”, it was needed as there has only been a '20p increase in seven years.'

The decision means a one-mile journey on the night tariff will increase from £4.30 to £5.40 – by 25.6%.

A one-mile journey on the normal day rate tariff will rise from £4 to £4.60.

For a one-mile trip on public and bank holidays, that will mean a 14.3% increase from £4.90 to £5.60, while on the Christmas and New Year tariff, that will see a 37.5% rise – from £6.40 to £8.80.

Councillors at Wednesday’s licensing, health and safety and general purposes committee unanimously approved the rise, with costs effective from November 1.

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the committee unanimously agreed to keep its cap on the number of Hackney carriage vehicle licences in Wirral to 289.

It came after Mr Cummins told members there was a 'very, very low demand' for licences, but limits like these 'bring confidence [to] the workforce.'

A full breakdown of the new fares can be found on the council document here: https://democracy.wirral.gov.uk/documents/s50052986/HCV%20TARIFF%20REPORT.pdf