IN a policy U-turn, Hampshire County Council has decided to keep funding a Bordon bus service it had previously announced was too expensive. The 73 service, linking Bordon and Petersfield, had to be financially rescued by the district council in July after the county council said it was costing too much. Without the help of East Hampshire District Council, the service would have been withdrawn at the end of August. The county council (HCC) has now announced it will continue to subsidise the 73 until the end of the financial year in March. But another Bordon service could be in danger of being axed when new tenders are submitted to HCC in January, according to a town councillor. Councillor Colin Hayden told members of Whitehill Town Council this week that county transport chiefs had suggested the 221 service could be withdrawn as it is not economically viable. Mr Hayden said the double-decker 221 carried less passengers since changing from its old circular route around the town, making it uneconomical to run, particularly as it began its journey in Basingstoke. He asked the town council to support a bid by the Town Partnership Transport Group to have the old route reinstated and served by a smaller bus, in order to give it the best chance of survival. He told councillors the transport group also wanted the new-look 221 to run through Lindford, reasoning that residents in surrounding villages already travelled to Bordon to shop and demand among shoppers for public transport would increase after Wilkinsons supermarket opens. There was support from members of the council's planning committee. David Williamson said: "The only reason they have a big double-decker bus is because of the run to Mill Chase school. "The cost of bringing that bus from Basingstoke must be horrendous." The council agreed to try to arrange a presentation, by county transport officers next month, on the future of the 221 and other Bordon buses.