The John Lewis Christmas advert rickshaw fantasy: We recreated Kirstin Scott Thomas' journey and got ripped off... and almost run over

It's the most-discussed television advert of the year, featuring grandmother Kristin Scott Thomas taking a bicycle tuk-tuk to the John Lewis store on Oxford Street - a journey that proves to be a portal to a magical Christmas wonderland.But the fantastical depiction of that pedal rickshaw ride through London's West End is exactly that - a fantasy.The reality is rather different: dangerously-driven, garishly-lit vehicles, bedecked in tat, blaring out trashy music, while ripping off passengers with astonishingly inflated - and illegal - exploitative fares.When the Daily Mail's reporters tried to recreate the journey depicted in the controversial ad, they were charged an astonishing £72 for a journey of just 1.3 miles - for a trip taking less than 15 minutes.This is less than it would cost to travel the same distance by private jet - and flagrantly exceeds fares in the new tariff system being introduced by mayor Sadiq Khan to reassure the public after a string of incidents of outrageous rip-offs.The advert has already sparked a national debate, with many finding it less wholesome than the company's usual Christmas fare - and the Mail's own Sarah Vine describing it as 'woke, nonsensical and frankly insulting drivel'. The Daily Mail's reporters recreated Dame Kristin Scott Thomas' tuk-tuk ride in the new John Lewis advert - and discovered the journey wasn't as magical as hers The reality different, as the Mail discovered drivers of these garishly-lit vehicles, bedecked in tat and blaring out trashy music, are ripping off passengers with exploitative fares Our reporters were charged an astonishing £72 for a similar journey depicted in the festive ad The star of the ad, Kristin Scott Thomas taking a bicycle tuk-tuk to the John Lewis store on Oxford Street in what the Daily Mail discovered was a completely fantastical depiction And perhaps the biggest insult is the fond depiction of the rickshaws as our two reporters found when they recreated the journey in the advert twice.First, from outside the Palace theatre on Cambridge Circus, the base for the long-running Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, they hailed a pedicab booming pop music and garish pink lights.Without mentioning the fare, the driver welcomed them into his vehicle.Our reporters were almost hit by a Lime bike in the first minute of the first ride after the pedicab pulled out too fast into oncoming traffic - before a terrifying journey which saw him dodging buses, taxis, cars, cyclists and pedestrians, often by mere inches.After snaking through the capital's heaving streets the brief journey ended by John Lewis flagship store on Oxford Street, which features in the ad, where the driver produced a card machine and took an astonishing £72 for his 14 minutes of pedalling.The reporters then took the same journey back again in another tuk-tuk to check that they hadn't just been ripped off by a single rogue rickshaw.This second journey was slightly less hair-raising and, at £35, less than half the price of the first - but was still significantly overcharging according to Khan's tariff card.In total, the reporters' journeys to and from John Lewis cost £107 for a distance of just 2.6 miles, making an average fare of more than £41 per mile.Private charter jets typically cost from £10 a mile while London's famous black cabs cost roughly £8.40 per mile.The Mail's findings come just weeks before Transport for London (TfL) finally introduces long-awaited regulations designed to crack down on rickshaw rip-offs after years of controversy over passengers - particularly tourists - being ripped off.Under the new rules, drivers will be permitted to charge a maximum starting fare of £5, plus £1 per minute and a £3 supplement for each additional passenger. The John Lewis ad stars Dame Kristin as a grandmother named Gloria, dreamily ferried to the department store in a tuk-tuk with a talking toy sausage dog called Pickles, in a hunt for last-minute presents That means our £72 journey, which lasted 14 minutes and carried two passengers, would cost no more than £22.However, the restrictions are not due to come into force until for three weeks - on November 27, meaning drivers are not technically breaking the new fare rules by charging such inflated sums.Under the crackdown - originally scheduled for October 30, but postponed - drivers will also need to apply for licences for themselves and their vehicles and face enhanced police record checks.They must also meet English language requirements, pass a road safety test and hold at least a driving theory test certificate.When approached for their reasoning behind their sky high prices, most refused to engage but one rider insisted: 'This is an experience, it's a premium service. We don't have fares all day like taxi.'London's rickshaws have attracted complaints particularly from tourists since they first emerged in the late 1990s, with consistent complaints of exorbitant charges for short journeys.In one notorious case, later cited in Parliament, an American tourist with two children was charged more than £450 for a seven-minute journey that took them little more than a mile.Other customers have reported being taken on circular routes to push fees up - and some even claim to have been physically intimidated into coughing up their cash when they query rogue charges.Our findings come just weeks after the Mail revealed that some rickshaw drivers have been using the walls of Buckingham Palace as a public toilet while on breaks between cycling.We discovered that the pedal taxi operators, most of whom are recent migrants, have set up a makeshift camp in the shadow of Buckingham Palace.Over the course of the last three weeks, we found that the drivers, who are made up of migrants, have been regularly using a lay-by next to the palace to doss down for the night.The John Lewis ad, stars Dame Kristin as a grandmother named Gloria, dreamily ferried to the department store with a talking toy sausage dog called Pickles.In need of gift-giving inspiration, Gloria enlists the help of her childhood toy, Pickles.The old friends rush off together in a rickshaw in a last-minute hunt for presents and arrive at John Lewis where Gloria finds her much needed spark.Titled 'Gloria and Pickles', the three-minute Saatchi & Saatchi-made ad features Oscar-nominated actress Dame Kristin, 66, as having everything in life bar the approval of her grandchildren. Kristin Scott in the festive advert that has sparked a national debate, with many finding it less wholesome than the company's usual Christmas fare But the ad has divided opinion across the UK, with many condemning those fictional grandchildren as 'rude and entitled'John Lewis & Partners wrote on social media: 'We hope Gloria's story inspires everyone to back their instincts and choose something personal this Christmas.'Returning to Sarah Vine's comic takedown of the ad in the Mail - of the tuk-tuk sequence, she went on: 'Those things are a menace and a rip-off: poor Granny would have had to sell that nice house just to go half a mile.'It turns out this satire wasn't as far from the truth as it initially seemed.TfL and John Lewis were approached for comment.