Who should cough-up when you throw-up in a taxi? The answer

He said there is a published fare for soiling a black cab which is agreed by the licensing committee. The fee is a maximum of £40 plus the fare. The London taxi blog says that in South Ribble, Lancashire there has been an argument to push that up to £100, but at the moment, in Birmingham, that is the way it is.

With a private hire vehicle, which was what Arch was being sick in, it is slightly different. The fares are negotiable and are generally less than those of a black cab.

I think that giving the driver £14.50, including the fare, was a bit mean but not too far off the mark in view of the fact that I did clear the sick up. Nor did he vomit down the driver's neck.

I disagree with Jackie that sick is sick, whether it is that of a baby or a drunken lout. Without wanting to go into too many nauseating details, baby sick does not smell as bad as adult vomit and the mess Arch made was relatively small and contained.

Significantly, Chris said: "I think it's very unlikely the driver would have lost a night's work. Believe me, nothing stops these guys from working. He'll have put a rug over the damp patch and carried on."

My conscience is salved.