Uber driver charges sleeping woman £85 for 'five-minute' journey after taking 35-mile detour

Uber says it is working to establish what happened

Comedian Miss Warman said she no longer trusts Uber and vows that she will never use the service again (Hannah Warman)

A woman has been charged £85 for an Uber journey that she says should have taken five minutes.

Hannah Warman, a comedian from London, ordered an Uber to take her home from a friend's party in North London in the early hours of the morning. Her house was a ten-minute walk away, but she decided to take an Uber because it was "safer".

During the ride Ms Warman fell asleep, and the following morning she discovered the journey had taken an hour and a half, taking her on a 35-mile detour to the far east of the capital and back.

(Hannah Warman (Hannah Warman)

Ms Warman told The Independent: "The journey was only a five or ten minute walk, but decided to get an Uber because it was late and I thought it'd be safer.

"I had been drinking a bit and must have fell asleep. I remember thinking it was taking a while, but I assumed maybe it was a new driver and he was lost.

"I'm usually nice to cab drivers so was very forgiving when I thought that might be the case. I was so tired that I went straight to bed when I got home.

"It wasn't until the next morning, when I received an emailed receipt showing the route, that I realised what had happened."

The comedian said she initially thought it was "hilarious", but then felt shocked and uncomfortable.

She said: "I was shocked that it was £85. And more than anything I felt weird about the fact I'd been in the car for an hour and a half and didn't remember what happened".

Uber has told The Independent that it is trying to establish exactly what happened, and believe it could be that there are "two streets with the same name".

But Ms Warman doesn't believe it could have been a mistake.

She said: "I can't see how it could have been a mistake".

"I posted what happened on Facebook and some people had had the same experience – although no one to the same extremes as me."

Uber said it had given Ms Warman a "full refund".

"They weren't very apologetic – they said nothing about giving the driver a warning or anything," Ms Warman added.

"Before I thought I could trust Uber, I felt like it was the safe option, and it gave me reassurance about getting home alone as a woman. But now that's gone.

"I'm not going to use Uber from now on. Black cabs seem like the safer option.

"As a comedian I try to put a funny spin on things. But I think it's important for people like me to know Uber is not as safe as you think it is."

A spokesperson for Uber told The Independent in a statement: “We are speaking to the licensed driver and the rider to establish exactly what happened and have given the rider a full refund.

"Unlike other transport options Uber's technology records every trip and sends riders a receipt with a map of the route taken. This transparency and accountability means if there is an issue it can be quickly resolved."