Cheeky taxi! £60 to Holmfirth from Huddersfield - plus our guide on what you should be paying this New Year

Dec 31 2009 by Barry Gibson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A CABBIE ripped off shoppers trying to get home in the snow.

The driver charged £60 to take four people from Huddersfield to Holmfirth – four times the usual fare.

And he then dropped one of them off a mile from her home with no refund.

Theresa Hobson, 33, was trying to get back to Scholes with her sister Sarah when Huddersfield was hit by heavy snow.

She said: “We went up to the bus station, but the tannoy kept giving different messages so we walked down to get a taxi from St George’s Square.

“We spoke to a driver who said he was trying to get people together who were going to the same area so it would be cheaper for everyone. A lad and a girl came along who wanted to go to Holmfirth.

“The driver quoted us a price of £15 each, which we weren’t happy with, since it would be £60 for a journey which usually costs £10 to £15.

“We asked to pay half then and the other half at the end of the journey but he said we had to pay in full before we set off.”

Ms Hobson felt she had no choice but to pay the fare. She said: “We could pay the fare or walk eight-and-a-half miles. It’s a long walk in the dark and there are no pavements for part of it, so we felt we had no choice.”

However, when the cab got to Scholes, the driver refused to go to Ms Hobson’s parents’ home on Paris Road because of the heavy snow.

She said: “I had to get out at Dunford Road and walk a mile in the cold and wet. I can understand that it would have been hard for him to drive up the hill but it really bothered me that he wouldn’t refund me anything.”

Ms Hobson has complained to Kirklees Council about the incident on December 20.