TAXI drivers in Cornwall are struggling to keep their businesses on the road as rising fuel and operating costs continue to impact local firms.

Fuel prices in the region are getting increasing higher as the conflict in the Middle East continues to disrupt global oil supplies, putting serious financial pressure on companies across the UK.

Among the businesses most exposed are local taxi firms, some of which are struggling to make ends meet, just as the tourist season in Cornwall ends.

It is made all the more difficult as the maximum fares that hackney carriage taxis in Cornwall can charge has remained the same for the last four years.

For some firms, particularly those based in rural areas, keeping business going with the increased costs is proving to be unsustainable.

One taxi firm based in North Cornwall told us: “It’s massively affecting our business to the point that I don’t know how much longer we can carry on for.

“Most people that want a taxi want it as cheap as possible and are not thinking about the effect that has on us as a business. They don’t realise how difficult it is to keep firms running or know that we don’t set the prices on the board meter, the council does. The price people pay now is exactly the same as it was four years ago, but now you’ve got these ever-increasing costs to pay.

“I am based in quite a rural part of Cornwall. In other areas, like Truro and Bodmin for example, you’ve got taxis flying around all of the time and all year round because they are big places and you’ve got people wanting to go from A to B. Local people here don’t do that, they all have their own vehicles.

“I’d say 95 per cent of our business is with holidaymakers for five months of the year, from May until September. Come October, there is no work - it’s dead. It drops from being full on and frantic to zero, and you’ve still got to pay yearly fees to the council and for things like taxi insurance which is phenomenally expensive. All this while your struggling to survive.

“To save money, we’ve had to inflate tyres to the point that’s legally permitted so they are as hard as possible to get more miles to the gallon. We will take the shortest routes possible, but sometimes that takes us down back lanes where there are extreme potholes, which could potentially put hundreds of pounds of damage on the vehicle.

“I think fuel duty could be lowered drastically like in other countries around the world, but I want to stay in business so I pay it. It’s a pretty tough business.”

The price of fuel is also is having a knock-on effect with the overall operating costs that businesses must cover to stay afloat. As the fuel crisis hits many companies in other industries, the expense in purchasing essential items to keep vehicles on the road is also creeping ever higher.

A spokesperson for one of Cornwall’s biggest taxi firms explained: “It’s proving quite challenging for everyone because the rising fuel costs have meant an overall increasing cost for additional products such as AdBlue and oil which help keep the fleet on the road.

“All of those products have to be delivered by road, and so the supplier providing those items are being impacted by the rising fuel costs, so they are going to increase their prices. It’s a bit of a vicious circle.

“All of that is going to have a negative impact on interest rates as well and it makes people realise how dependent everybody is on fuel. It almost almost all local economies and a lot of people now can’t really afford to go out.

“The other thing that’s affecting the taxi trade is the increasing licensing costs from local government. Drivers are being forced travel from Penzance for example to the council offices in Bodmin for vehicle checks, and that is going to cost them a lot of money and is damaging for the environment as well.

“There’s been no help from the council at all, because prices and tariffs remain the same. They are increasing prices for taxi licences, plates and badges, while the fair structure has remained static. Everything around them is going up at an extraordinary rate and so it’s a case of fight the good fight on all fronts. It’s a bit of a downward spiral.

“All we can do is to try and ride the storm whilst still endeavouring to provide the same safe and reliable service.”