Presumably the fare was going out of area? Then entirely up to the driver, I suppose.
Of course, if it was within the council area then the driver would be duty bound to accept the run, assuming the women were willing to pay the metered fare, obviously
Reminds me a bit of our rank, where some of the regulars walk past the car at the head of the rank and go direct to the drivers who'll give them a pound or two off the fare
But once in a blue moon they can't find their pet driver, and get into my car, and while I'd rather not take them I just do it to keep the peace and avoid a kick off. And since they're just local fares I'm duty bound to take them anyway
(One of them sometimes stands on the corner of the street near the rank waiting on his driver if he's not on the rank, but he flagged me down the other night (think he got fed up waiting), and I just drove past him, but managed to resist the temptation to give him the finger
)
As regards these women, though, since it sounds like a good fare I'd probably just swallow my pride and take them - beggars can't be choosers, and all that
But I'd quite understand any driver who didn't want to take them on a point of principle.