TAXI and private hire car operators say they will be forced to put up fares because of a 200 per cent increase in licence fees proposed by Kennet District Council.

News of the planned rises in licence fees was broken to operators in Marlborough by the Gazette on Monday after a press release was issued by Kennet.

The following day they received an invitation to one of their regular meetings with the district council licensing department and on the agenda was the list of suggested increases.

Kennet was quick this week to say the increases were only a proposal and that there was a 28-day consultation period in which objections could be made.

Cab operators were amazed to learn that the proposal to increase fares has come not from the elected members of the council but from an officer.

A Kennet spokesman told the Gazette that the council's financial services manager Andrew Hart has delegated powers to set new licence fees.

The only charges made by the district council that still go to committee for discussion by members are fees in the council run car parks.

Taxi and private hire operators in Marlborough and Pewsey this week said they were incensed the council was proposing to put up their licence fees without first discussing them at the meetings held regularly between operators and officers.

The fees paid by the taxi and private hire firms to Kennet are set to increase well above the three per cent cost of living index increase. The proposals are:

l Licence fees for each vehicle will increase from £70 to £95

l The cost of an operator's licence currently £77 for three years will increase to £40 a year

l Driver's licences currently £32 for three years will become an annual licence costing £50 for the initial application and £30 a year thereafter.

It's that latter charge that has caused most upset among the operators this week because it will increase by more than 200 per cent.

Hayden Warren owns Merlin Cars and with 11 vehicles and 14 drivers is one of the biggest operators in the area.

He said the general feeling was that Kennet had foxed the increases and would not budge no matter how much opposition was raised.

Mr Warren said: "This is going to put our costs up quite a bit and we will have to pass it on to our customers."

Two of his cares are licensed as hackney carriages for which the hire costs are set by Kennet.

Mr Warren said: "The hackney carriage charges went up only in June last year but we will have to ask Kennet to put them up again."

Private hire operators can set their own charges, said Mr Warren, and these would definitely have to rise.

Mr Warren said: "What is really annoying is that Kennet said some time ago they would have to increase the charges but they never came back to consult with us."

Ken Light who runs Arrow Cars said: "We will most certainly be objecting and I know our colleagues in the Devizes area will be.

"There is no way us operators can absorb this sort of increase so it will have to be passed on in increased fares."

Kennet's principal environmental health officer John Knight told the Gazette that taxi and private hire operators and the public had 28 days in which to make objections.

He said: "If people raise any objections then the council has to have regard to those objections and the financial services manager would have to decide what to do."

The reason behind the proposed increase, said Mr Knight, was that the council has to raise enough in fees to cover the cost of running the licensing service.

He said: "Compared with six other local authorities around, Kennet will still be cheaper than any of the others."