TAXI fares in Southampton will be slashed this Christmas after a single cabbie scuppered the goodwill gesture last year.

Traditional double fares from 11pm on Christmas Eve to 6am on December 27 will be cut to time-and-a-half.

Taxi chiefs hope the move will boost trade as well as offering some cheer to hard-pressed customers.

Perry McMillan, chairman of the Southampton cab section of Unite, the union, said: “It’s a goodwill gesture from the trade to encourage people into taxis over Christmas.”

Ian Hall, chairman of the Southampton Hackney Association, who first proposed the Christmas cut, said: “We want to encourage people to get into white taxis. It’s good for the customer.”

Taxi trade bodies had hoped to bring in the reduced fares last Christmas but a lone taxi driver objected, triggering a licensing meeting which delayed the change.

Marc Smith, 50, said the festive gesture was “truly bizarre” and claimed many passengers did not care what they were charged to get home from a night out in the city at Christmas. He said drivers deserved the higher premium for working Christmas holidays.

Double fares from 11pm on New Year’s Eve until 6am on New Year’s Day will remain.