Gatwick airport is to raise its fee for dropping off passengers outside its terminals to £10.

The new price - a 43% increase from the £7 currently charged - will be brought in from January 6 next year.

The price hike means Gatwick will have the highest drop-off fee across all UK airports by £3.

The charge is likely to hit passengers arriving by taxi as well as private cars - with firms likely to add it on to taxi and minicab fares.

The airport has sought to blame a business rates hike by Rachel Reeves for the fresh increase.

A spokeswoman for the West Sussex airport said: "This increase in the drop-off charge is not a decision we have taken lightly.

"However, we are facing a number of increasing costs, including a more than doubling of our business rates.

"The increase in the

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