Telford taxi drivers’ fight against fare rises has been given a boost with major political figures backing their campaign against proposed operating hikes.

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett spoke of his surprise at the hike during his visit to Telford this week, while fellow Labour MP John Spellar has also lent his support to the campaign.

Telford & Wrekin Council proposals for taxi operator licence changes could see firms more than £15,000 out of pocket. As a result of the increased operator charges taxi bosses feel they would have no option but to raise the minimum fare from £3 to £15 – a 400 per cent increase.

Mohammed Zaman, manager of Central Taxis, said: “The current fee is £462 for a fleet of more than 50 vehicles. They want to change that to a flat fee of £300 plus £65 a vehicle to include taxi marshalling. We have 235 cars so it will cost us a lot.

“We are one of the bigger firms but it will hurt every firm. We’ll have no option but to increase the fares for journeys. We don’t want to do that and we want the public to support us and get this changed.

“We have petitions going into every taxi office and we will be asking customers to sign up when they get in a taxi.”

The petition has been signed by Wrekin election candidates Paul Kalinauckas (Labour) and Ali Cameron-Daw (Lib Dem).

Mr Kalinauckas added: “Many people rely on mini cabs to get around and these proposed increase will send fares through the roof. The charges for licenses have got to be fair and not penalise the drivers.”

And Mrs Cameron-Daw added: “We cannot afford to give up on this. The issue is ridiculous and they need someone to carry the fight.”

A Telford & Wrekin Council spokesman said a final decision had yet to be made.

“We are currently undergoing an extensive pre-consultation process to explain the context of the report to the trade and meetings are ongoing as part of this.”