not surprised could you afford a house down there !fares in certain parts of Cornwall are among the most expensive in the whole country, figures have revealed.
According to the Private Hire and Taxi Monthly magazine, which compiled the figures, hailing a cab in the former Carrick district council area, which includes Truro, Falmouth, Penryn and St Agnes, will cost you more than if you jumped into a cab in the centre of London.
The figures from the PHTM placed the former Carrick district as the fourth most expensive area for taxis in the UK behind Luton Airport, Watford, Heathrow Airport and just ahead of Epsom and Ewell and London.
According to the specialist site, a two-mile taxi ride in the Carrick district area, or, in effect, a drive up to Treliske hospital from Truro city centre, will cost you £7.30 compared with £7.20 for central London.
The former Caradon district council, which corresponds now to the South East Cornwall constituency, was ranked 16th most expensive area in the country for taxi rides at £6.80 for a two-mile journey.
North Cornwall was ranked 21st most expensive area in the UK with a two-mile fare costing £6.80.
Kerrier, now Camborne and Redruth constituency, came in at 23rd with fares of £6.85.
The former Restormel Borough Council area, around Fowey and Lostwithiel came in at 46th out of 366 councils in the UK with fares of £6.45 for two miles and Penwith in the Penzance and St Ives area was ranked 77th with a two-mile taxi ride setting you back £6.30.
That's a taxi journey from Penzance to Newlyn and part of the way back.
By comparison, a similar journey in Plymouth will set you back £5.70, putting the Devon 187th position on the league table of most expensive taxi fares in the UK.
Taxi fares are set by Cornwall Council. The local authority said the fees stated are the maximum taxis can charge for the distance covered.
On the local authority's website it says that a result of re-organisation, taxis can only operate in a particular zone.
The zones within Cornwall reflect the boundaries of the previous district and borough councils within Cornwall.
The authority said: "This will not change unless Cornwall Council decides to amalgamate the zones, which is subject to consultation.
"Due to zones being created each zone still has its own policies and procedures in place for taxis. For example, three of the zones limit numerically the number of taxi vehicles. However, licensed vehicles in each zone must adhere to the same vehicle specifications and conditions of licence."
A Cornwall Council spokeswoman said: "The council sets the table of fares for each of the six taxi zones in Cornwall. We publicly consulted on whether the six zones should be amalgamated into one licensing area. The outcome was to retain the s taxi zones.
"The table of fares is the maximum that taxi operators can charge. Taxi operators have full discretion to charge less than the table of fares.
"The taxi operators can approach the council to request an increase in the table of fares. Requests are submitted to the council's miscellaneous licensing committee to consider."
The spokeswoman added: "If the committee is minded to increase the maximum fares that can be charged then the next stage is a notice in a local newspaper inviting comments from anybody, this includes members of the general public.
"If no objections are received in response to the notice then the new maximum fees take effect. If there are objections then matter is referred back to the committee for further consideration."
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