Passengers struggle to book taxis in Inverness

Passengers are struggling to book taxis in Inverness.

The issue is hitting a number of firms and is due to a number of factors.

Gavin Johnston, the managing director of Inverness Taxis, agreed there are problems and added: "It is a bit of everything – the high demand for this time of year, , bad weather and the driver numbers are not what they used to be."

He said that it was not limited to Inverness. He said: "The driver shortage is all over the country. There is no way we can keep up with demand because there is not enough cars."

Mr Johnston predicted that the situation would continue until the first week of January, when demand would not be as great, and it had been like this for most of the year.

He added: "It's not the service we like to give and we do have some upset customers on the phone."

Andrew MacDonald, the acting chairman of the Inverness Taxi Alliance, said that during the pandemic a lot of drivers made ends meet by delivering parcels for Amazon and had not returned to driving taxis.

He said: "There is a general shortage of professional drivers."

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