Fuel cost crisis raises concerns over women's safety in York

There are warnings about the knock-on effects the rise of fuel costs could have on public safety, particularly for women.

It's as fuel prices at UK pumps reached new highs, with a litre of petrol averaging £1.59. For diesel, the average cost is now £1.67.

It means a full tank for a typical car are costing petrol drivers around £88, and diesel drivers about £92.

We're hearing how the fuel cost crisis is having a knock-on effect for taxi drivers in North Yorkshire.

Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, the Chair of the York Private Hire Association, Wendy Loveday is warning more drivers could be forced to leave the trade:

"We just endured the hardest two years the trade has seen probably since the 1990s due to the pandemic. So now with this huge price rises, the impact on the drivers is going to be massive.

"Recently where there was the shortage of fuel and there were drivers unable to get fuel, and now this is putting drivers in a position where they might not be able to afford the fuel.

"We've got a massive shortage of drivers and this fuel rise is putting further drivers off.

Impact on women's safety

Chair of the York Private Hire Association, Wendy Loveday, is backing calls for a fuel tax relief for taxi drivers:

"You can't look at it fuel tax relief as just helping the taxi trade, it's not just about helping people maintain their jobs, it's about public service.

"There's such a national shortage that it becomes dangerous. If you don't have a taxi to take you home at the end of your evening, then you're in danger.

A national shortage of taxi drivers has been seen as a consequence of the pandemic, as demand plummeted during the lockdowns.

In November 2021, the Licensed Private Car Hire Association estimated the industry is short of 160,000 of the previously 300,000-strong workforce.

Wendy warns about the knock-on effects that an even wider shortage of drivers, resulting from the current fuel cost crisis, could have on public safety - particularly, for women:

"The biggest part of our job is public safety and you're not keeping the public safe when you can't put fuel in your car, and you're leaving women stranded in city centres.

"There's been a massive drive since the Sarah Everard case that everybody needs to think about women alone in city centres. If we can't afford to put the fuel in our cars to get these women home from a night out, women are going to be seriously impacted."

• fuel crisis
• fuel costs
• womens safety
• taxi shortages