Black cabs fares in London are to rise 5.5% in an attempt to reduce the number of drivers giving up the profession and coping with a rise in costs.

London’s Evening Standard reports that, from 30 April, minimum fares between 5am and 10pm will increase from £3.20 to £3.80, while travellers to Heathrow will see their supplement go up from £2.80 to £3.60.

It says the increase, approved by Transport for London’s finance committee, will help drivers stay afloat as the costs of operating taxis have increased 10 per cent on pre-pandemic times causing many cabbies to resign.

In January there was a warning traditional black cabs “face extinction”  with the number of new applications for black cab licences has dropped by almost 95% in a decade, from 3,484 in 2011/12 to just 221 last year.

(Picture – Yay Images)