Rural bus services handed £1.7m funding

The one-off funding has been approved by Westmorland and Furness council

Bus services in rural areas have been given funding worth £1.7m to maintain services.

Westmorland and Furness Council approved the one-off funding from the Department for Transport to go towards several routes across Cumbria.

The Lib Dem-led authority's cabinet member for highways Peter Thornton said he hoped people would use the routes as it would act as a "powerful incentive" to keep them.

Councillor Neil Hughes said a deficit of public transport in Cumbria had been an "issue for a long time".

According to council documents seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, proposals include allocating £203,000 for the number 6 route between Barrow and Windermere to maintain extra peak services and increase daytime frequency.

The same ambitions lie behind the £175,000 spent on the X6 route from Barrow to Kendal.

About £160,000 would be needed to increase the number of Sunday services for the X5 bus between Keswick and Penrith, as well as maintaining Monday to Saturday frequency.

The council will look at adding a service twice a day from Alston to Penrith and a Little Langdale shuttle bus, as well as extending the routes from the Town Hall in Barrow to BAE Systems to align with shift change times.