EVERYONE is feeling the financial pinch at the moment and taxi drivers are probably as badly affected as anyone else.

Insurance policy premiums only ever go one way – and that’s up.

At the same time the rollercoaster of fuel prices cannot help anyone who is trying to run a business in which they are a major component.

But it’s difficult to see how Blackburn with Darwen Council can be expected to approve a fares rise for taxi drivers in the borough if some want it and others hold an equally strong view that they don’t.

While the Hackney Drivers Association says its members are struggling to maintain their vehicles and make a profit on fares set nearly two years ago, the Blackburn Hackney Carriage Association fears that raising fares in these recessionary times could drive away customers.

It does seem sensible to think that faced with higher fares many people whose incomes haven’t increased might make greater efforts to use public transport.

In any case councillors can hardly force some drivers to charge more when they don’t wish to.