Column: Clinton Rogers on captive audiences and rising costs

So, it wasn’t going to take much to annoy me on my return from a short break in Gran Canaria.

In fact, I never made it out of Bristol Airport before my hackles were rising faster than a jet on a short runway.

The cost of drop-off and pick-up parking had gone up by £1.10 in the short time I’d been away.

It was, in my opinion, already outrageous to be asked for £7 for just a ten-minute stay (I do remember it being £1).

Now it was £8.50.

How can they justify that?

Apparently, by blaming the Chancellor for increasing airport business rates.

I’m struggling to see the connection.

To me, it feels less like traffic management and more like revenue maximisation.

Motorists are an easy target.

All of which set me thinking about other areas where motorists feel they are being fleeced in places where they have little choice but to pay up.

Motorway service areas are a classic example.

A litre of unleaded fuel was being sold at £1.55.9 in an M5 station in Somerset last week.

A town centre fuel stop near Taunton was charging £1.29.9.

So, if you have a car with (say) a 55 litre tank, that’s an extra £14 if you’re forced to buy on the motorway.

The thing is, to an extent, we are a captive audience.

Yes, we COULD drive off the motorway in search of an urban or rural fuel stop nearby, but the reality is we take a deep breath, close our eyes at the price, swear under our breath and fill up.

I once heard a transport group arguing that the increased cost was down to the difficulties of getting fuel to motorway service areas.

Really?

Harder than navigating rural one-lane roads in deepest Exmoor?

Then there’s parking in hospitals.

At Musgrove in Taunton (where parking is in the hands of a private operator), it’s £6.20 for two hours.

It’s £2.60 in the centre of town.

But what choice do you have when you’re visiting a sick relative and time is tight?

A captive audience again.

Incidentally, it’s a lot cheaper at Southmead Hospital in Bristol.

What links all these examples is a growing sense that essential services are being monetised to breaking point.

Fuel, access, parking – these aren’t luxuries.

They are part of the daily fabric of working life in a largely rural county where public transport options are limited, and cars are often a necessity, not a choice.

People understand that businesses need to make money and infrastructure needs funding.

But there is a fine line between fair pricing and exploitation!