By Arthur Martin
Last updated at 1:33 AM on 23rd December 2010
He was planning to drive his regular customers into town and perhaps pick up a few Christmas tips.
Instead, taxi driver Bob Ransley scooped his biggest ever fare of £1,000 after driving a family of seven 800 miles from their home in Hampshire to the French Alps for a skiing holiday.
Peter Lelliott, his partner Rebecca Butler and their five children had been told by British Airways that their flight from Heathrow had been cancelled because of the snow.
On the slopes: Peter Lelliott and Rebecca Butler with their children Adam, Myles, Jenni, Connie and Toby
Determined to get away, Mr Lelliott phoned Stuart’s Airport Transfers in Southampton and asked if they had a driver willing to take them to Val d’Isère for £1,000.
What followed was a treacherous 15-hour drive through snow blizzards on slippery mountain roads.
As they crossed the French Alps, the whole car fell silent as the driver negotiated tight hair-pin corners with a sheer drop on one side.
Miss Butler, 47, a barrister, said: ‘We hit a blizzard outside Reims and for a while it didn’t look like we’d make it, but Peter took over the driving and we kept going.’
Despite the gruelling journey, they arrived at the ski resort only six hours later than they would have done if they had taken their BA flight.
Mammoth journey: Driver Bob Ransley drove the family 800 miles from Southampton to Val D'Isere
They hope to return to Britain on Boxing Day using a more conventional method. Mr Lelliott, a software consultant, and Miss Butler had paid £7,000 for their one-week holiday, but had booked their flights separately.
Mr Lelliott, also 47, added: ‘There were no flights and no space on the Eurostar. I tried to rent a people carrier but the only one I could find was not big enough.
‘I offered the taxi driver the same money as the hire car would have cost and he was happy to drive us in his VW Transporter minibus.’
Mr Ransley, 51, spent one night in a spare bed at the chalet before returning to Southampton.
He said yesterday: ‘I’ve never been to France before so it was a bit strange driving on the other side of the road. The French seem lovely people but I’m not so sure about their driving.
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