East Midlands Airport bosses have been forced into an embarrassing U-turn after they were forced to ditch a new charging scheme at the airports drop-off zone.
Angry taxi drivers and motorists complained of complete gridlock when attempting to leave the airport after drop-off charges were increased from £2 for 10 minutes to £2 for 5 minutes and then £1 for every subsequent minute.
Airport bosses claimed that the charges were revised in an effort to improve the traffic flow when leaving the zone, however according to cabbies and motorists alike it had the opposite effect, creating gridlock as panicked motorists attempted to leave the zone as quickly as possible to avoid being heavily charged, which in turn created massive tailbacks at the airport.
One motorist told BBC News that had airport staff not opened up a second barrier he would have been charged £27 to drop off and leave the airport.
Airport bosses confirmed that drop-off charges at the airport will now revert back to the original charging regime of £2 for 10 minutes for the foreseeable future.
Image Source: Geograph
Image Author: Robin Stott