TAXI fares in Chester-le-Street could increase by 10p a mile if proposals are given the go ahead.

The district council's licensing committee is also considering whether to increase the starting price from £1.40 to £1.60.

Environmental health manager Paul Jenkins said: "A failure to ensure the ongoing financial viability of hackney carriage proprietors could lead to a decline in their number.

"Conversely, excessive tariffs could place hackney carriages outside the reach of several groups, including vulnerable people, such as the elderly.

"Additionally, excessive tariffs could discourage visitors to the district. This may have an adverse effect on the local economy, in particular the evening economy."

The council has consulted all 180 licence holders and received four letters in response.

Taxi driver Thomas Coggins, of Chipchase, Oxclose, Washington, said he agreed with the extra 10p per mile for journeys.

But he said the extra 20p per mile waiting time, for example at traffic lights, was excessive.

He said: "I regularly spend three minutes from leaving the rank from exiting the lights due to the volume of traffic.

"This is going to mean £2.20 before a journey starts. A very high proportion of day shift work is elderly people.

"I believe it is unfair for them to shoulder this extra cost, after all these people are our bread-and-butter work. This will frighten them off to the private hire firms."

There has been no review of the hackney carriage tariff since January last year. It is among the lowest 15 per cent nationally.