The cost of hailing a taxi on the street, or picking one up from a rank, in Swindon will go up from the first of October.

Members of Swindon Borough Council’s cabinet have endorsed its licensing committee’s proposal to put up the basic tariff of a hackney carriage journey by £1.

The increase will see the minimum fare for the first quarter mile rise by £1 from £4.50 to £5.50 on the standard day rate.

The minimum fair on the right rate will increase by 60p from £5,90 to £6.50 and the minimum fare for the nights of Christmas and New Year will go up from £6.50 to £7.50.

Introducing the proposal to cabinet, the member for communities and partnerships Councillor Jim Grant said: “It would put Swindon about mid-table in the price league for nearby authorities.”

It means a journey of two miles at the day rate would increase in cost from £7.70 to £8.70, which would be more expensive than the same journey  Oxford, West Berkshire or Cheltenham, but less than one in the Vale of the White Horse, Reading or London.

This new tariff is the maximum tariff a driver can charge. They are at liberty to charge less if they want to.