AN ANGRY York taxi operator has claimed that proposed licensing changes, which could see the cost of some licences increase by as much as 400 per cent, will end up coming out of customers' pockets.

Peter Wheatley, who has run the Yorcab taxi firm in the city for more than ten years, slammed a raft of "unfair" planned licence fee increases.

He said that more than 300 separate objections to the changes were expected to be presented to City of York Council today by Hackney Carriage drivers and private hire operators.

"It's just pushing up costs, and in the end it's going to have to be passed on to the customer, and they are not going to be happy about paying increased taxi fares.

"It seems that the only reason licence fees are going up is that the council needs to raise even more money," he said.

But council licensing officer Dick Haswell said the increases would only go to meet the increasing cost of running the regulatory service and not for any general budget purposes.

He said: "This is the process of consultation and we have received several comments which members will consider before making a decision."

Proposed licence cost increases range from 12.5 per cent for a new application for an individual private hire licence, to a 400 per cent increase for a private hire operator with more than 61 vehicles.

The most common licence costs, such as renewals and annual inspection fees, would increase by only a few pounds. Council bosses say the current annual cost of licensing a 70-vehicle fleet is only £114.

They say this figure is out of line with what is being charged in other local authority areas, with up to £5,000 being charged in some.

After the increases, the figure in York would rise to £700, which the council says still works out at only £10 a car.

Ian Gillies, chairman of York Taxi Association, said new drivers and operators would shoulder the largest chunk of the new costs.

He said that, in the main, the changes were "quite reasonable".

He said: "In real terms I don't have a great issue with the new costs, but I would not want to see it go any further up."

But Graham Walker, of Fleetways, said 90 per cent of the company's drivers had filled in forms objecting to the increases. The firm has 72 cars.

He said: "These people have got to be paid for what they do, but when inflation is running at three per cent, it is difficult to see where the money goes."

Updated: 10:31 Monday, March 15, 2004