Bus route closures delayed after funding received

Leicestershire residents have been campaigning to keep open bus routes

A review into bus services by Leicestershire County Council has been paused after the authority received new funding.

Up to 26 routes were put at risk in February, when the authority said it needed to find £1m in savings on bus services to help fill an £88m budget deficit.

As it will now receive £1.79m this year from the government’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, any decision on possible cancellations has been delayed.

Councillor Ozzy O’Shea, cabinet member for highways and transport at the Conservative-run council, said it was an opportunity to “help the council better shape the public transport offer in rural areas”.

Pause 'welcome'

Analysis by the BBC earlier this year showed bus services across Leicestershire have already been halved compared to levels in 2016, while local residents have campaigned to keep open key routes serving villages and towns around the county.

A petition to save one of the services, the 6/6a/7 between Burbage and Nuneaton, was launched by Hinckley Liberal Democrat county councillor Michael Mullaney, who said losing the route would be "a huge blow" to residents, especially those that cannot drive.

“While I welcome the pausing of the plans to scrap 26 bus services by the county council, I hope council bosses will listen and permanently drop plans to cut this and other essential bus services in the county," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.