SURREY County Council comes second in local authorities across England and Wales for making the largest cuts in bus subsidies over the last six years.

The council reduced subsidies by £1.535million, Campaign for Better Transport revealed in its report on bus funding across England and Wales from 2010-16 and the local authority cut support funding by 17.03 per cent from 2015 to 2016.

The Campaign for Better Transport is calling on the Government to explain how its forthcoming Buses Bill will help isolated and rural communities stay connected in view of its research showing that £78million has been cut in bus subsidies over the last six years with more than 2,400 routes reduced or removed altogether as a result.

While the bill will enable much needed improvements for people in metropolitan areas, it may do little to help rural bus users, who are at greatest threat of seeing services wiped out by operators as a result of subsidies being cut.

Public transport campaigner Martin Abrams said the cuts were on a par with the misguided cuts the Government and Dr Beeching made to the rail network that decimated services in the early 1960s.

“Following six years of huge reductions in grants from central government, local authorities are being forced into making ever deeper cuts to bus funding,” he said. “There is real public outrage about the large number of bus services under threat – local buses provide a vital role to the community.

“For some people, especially in rural areas, buses are their only means of getting to work or school, to visit friends or to access shops and public amenities.

“With the scale of cuts we are now seeing, urgent action must be taken by the Government to ensure buses have the funding they need and deserve.”

In a bus consultation launched by Surrey County Council that closes on Sunday, March 14, the village of Hambledon is threatened once again with the loss of its “lifeline” No. 503 service operated by Stagecoach due to the subsidy being axed.

The proposal for the No. 503 Hambledon to Guildford via Milford and Godalming service is to cut the section from Hambledon to Godalming, which currently operates three days each week.

Surrey CC said it will encourage local organisations to develop a dial-a-ride service, indicating Stagecoach is unlikely to continue the service without a subsidy.

Hambledon Parish Council campaigned successfully to retain the service when it was threatened with closure in 2011.

Parish councillor Stewart Payne told The Herald: “It is disappointing and worrying that we are, once again, having to make a case to keep our bus service operating.

“It is a vital service in a rural area and what more can we say in 2016 to stress its importance to our village that has not already been said by us before.

“Its passengers numbers are inevitably limited because the bus service itself is limited to three days a week, and not at a time useful to commuters or school children. But those who do use it, mainly the elderly and infirm, rely on it.

“And they have told us they do not want a dial-a-ride service because they want the independence that the bus service provides and on which they meet friends as they travel to the shops, banks or surgeries.

“We are heading for a stage where we provide the elderly with bus passes, but no buses to use them on.

“Clearly central government cuts to local authorities are, despite what the politicians claim, having a major and detrimental impact on local services.”

Timetable changes with some reductions in services are proposed for five Haslemere bus services in the consultation.

For full details and to take part go to www.surreysays. co.uk and follow the links or call 0300 200 1003 for a printed version.

Bus service cuts are the ‘deepest’