TAXI bosses in Southampton have insisted that proposed new fare hikes are not being imposed to rip off customers.

The promise comes as it was announced that fare prices in the city look set to rise by up to 45 per cent, but only for the first part of the journey.

The extended flat fare increase for the start of journeys will see charges go up from £2 to £2.90 during the day and from £2.75 to £3.90 at night.

However, the distance covered by the initial charge will also be extended from 110m to 550m.

That will mean that the sharp rise will actually work out at an increase of between 10p to 15p by the end of the initial charge period.

Customers will then be charged 20p during the day or 25p during the night for each additional 230m.

Across the board, it will mean that a typical journey of three miles will go up by about 1.5 per cent, while a five-mile trip will go up by more than three per cent.

Taxi bosses requested the changes to simplify fares and meet rises in business costs, particularly in petrol and replacement vehicles.

Clive Johnson, chairman of the Southampton Taxi Trade, said: "We are not ripping anyone off. We are getting rid of the five drops of 110m which is causing a major problem and brings us into line with other councils that have done away with them years ago."

He added that the trade had a "good rapport with the public" and was keen for this to continue.

Council licensing officer Richard Black said: "The immediate effect looks like a 45 per cent increase but it's only while the taxi doesn't move and comes down rapidly through the 550 metres."

City councillors on the licensing sub-committee agreed to put the new charges out to consultation.

The fares were last revised in August last year.

Chairman Councillor Brian Parnell said: "I remember last year when the prices of petrol were going back up. There was talk of taxi drivers coming back mid-season for higher fares so the trade has done well."

If there are no objections, the new charges will come into force on October 8.

The changes would only apply to the 263 hackney carriages licensed by the council.

The city's 409 private hire vehicles are free to set their own charges, although most choose to follow the hackney carriage table of fares.