[Judith Addison]

I haven't been driving for the last two years due to medical reasons so use taxis quite a lot - I regularly use Hyndburn Cars who I find entirely reliable. As a woman travelling on my own I always feel quite safe. I'm aware that some other firms charge lower fares. When I went with Hyndburn Cars to Manchester airport and told them what some other firms charged they said they didn't know how they could do it for that price as they wouldn't even be covering their costs. Occasionally I use other firms, e.g. to come home from ASDA. Leaflets come regularly through my door advertising cheap fares. However, when you get home and ask the fare, some invariably ask, "What do you usually pay?" Although they advertise a cheap fare on their leaflet, in practice they try to charge as much as they can get away with. A few months ago I took a taxi from the rank on Holme Street - it was just after midnight and they said the fare would be double. I took this as gospel and paid. Later I mentioned this to Hyndburn Cars - they said if I'd rung them to pick me up they'd just have charged standard rate. So I prefer to stick with them!