THE cost of running a Salisbury taxi has risen again - but for once drivers and operators appear to be in agreement with the council.

Most are in favour of the 15 per cent average increase in the price of vehicle and driver licences for private hire vehicles and hackney carriages - because the money is being used to fund a penalty point system aimed at improving standards.

As with the DVLA's system of penalising standard licence holders, points will be awarded for a range of offences, with possible suspension awaiting those who accumulate a total of 12.

Failure to adequately display driver identity badges or being absent from a vehicle when it is close to the front of a taxi queue are examples of offences that will merit such penalties.

John Cranch, a director of City Cabs which operates 30 hackney carriages in Salisbury, described the increase in the cost of a licence as a 'necessary evil'.

"It's quite a big hike but at least this time we know why," he said. "We've been informed and consulted and if it means better regulation of the industry and so higher standards then we're happy. No-one wants to see a few individuals giving the trade a bad name."