Cab crash firm scraps £77 fare clocked up in wait for ambulance

A passenger taken to hospital with concussion after her taxi collided with a stationary cab has been told she is not being charged the £77 fare.

Management consultant Penny Bickerstaff, 50, was thrown into the taxi's central partition and needed two days off work.

The Evening Standard reported how the company that hired the cab for Ms Bickerstaff, to take her to work during the October 4 Tube strike, believed it would be charged the fare, including the time taken for an ambulance to arrive. Now Computer Cab has said it "never had any intention" of charging. The taxi driver, who is self-employed, is not currently receiving work from the firm, also known as ComCab.

ComCab general manager Malcolm Paice said: "We were contacted on the day of the accident and agreed to investigate the matter in regards to the meter fare. We took the decision not to bill any part of this journey on to the client and no invoice would ever have been issued."

Ms Bickerstaff said she was dismayed it had taken the cab company a week to reply, and only after the Standard intervened.