TAXI drivers are worried about losing vital custom after being told they can no longer collect passengers from Gatwick Airport's drop-off points.
Traffic marshals are enforcing existing restrictions more strictly which means taxis can no longer pick up customers from the forecourts of either terminal.
Instead they have to collect passengers from short-stay car parks, which cost £3 for drivers to enter for half an hour.
They have expressed fears the policy, more rigidly enforced since the start of July, will seriously hit their livelihoods.
Adrian Sharkey, who part owns A 'n' B Cars, based in London Road, said: "I think we will suffer from it. It's a real concern. We take a lot of people from East Grinstead and the surrounding areas to the airport.
"The first we heard of it was last Monday (July 1) – we had no warning from the airport and no time to make any new arrangements."
But a Gatwick Airport spokeswoman said that the airport has been consulting with taxi companies over the last month.
She added that many taxi companies serve the airport and that there is no dedicate4d forum for drivers and no means of contacting them all.
Mr Sharkey said of the new policy: "It's going to make it very awkward.
"We take people to the airport all the time for holidays or business trips. When people come back all we ever say is to give us a ring at baggage reclaim and we will meet you where we dropped you."
The 62-year-old said the restrictions are unfair on those customers who will return from their holidays having already paid for a return journey, only to discover they will have to pay extra.
A Gatwick spokeswoman said: "It has always been official policy that Gatwick's short-stay car parks should be used when picking up passengers by private car or taxi.
"Due to increasing congestion at Gatwick's forecourt areas, we will now be enforcing this policy at both terminals. This will ensure that space at our forecourts is protected for passengers being dropped off – a facility we continue to offer for free."
One taxi driver, who did not want to be named, raised concerns about the safety of passengers having to wait in car parks late at night.
They said: "I would like the airport to carry out a risk assessment for its lone passengers.
"This is a money-generating exercise and has nothing to do with congestion.
"I think business will go down. People won't want to drag all their luggage into a car park. Families with kids won't want to be doing that."