Leicestershire: Bus campaigners dealt blow in bid to keep services

A number of people turned up outside County Hall on Wednesday to protest at the planned cuts to bus funding

Campaigners fighting to save 26 bus routes have said they will be "stranded" if funding is withdrawn.

The ruling Conservative group on Leicestershire County Council has said it can no longer subsidise the services due to a budget gap of more than £88m.

The opposition Liberal Democrats group put forward an amendment to keep the services - but it was defeated.

One campaigner fighting the proposal said: "I can't get out of the village without the bus."

Councillor Ozzy O'Shea told a budget meeting on Wednesday the council "can't continue to subsidise routes people aren't using".

The 747 service between Uppingham and Leicester is under threat

He added the government's Bus Recovery Grant extension, which runs until June, has £336,000 earmarked for Leicestershire but this was "very short-term".

"We simply don't have the money to continue supporting subsidised buses. We're overspending on this. Not enough people use the subsidised routes," he said.

Mary Hanrahan, from Newbold Verdon, was one of the protesters hoping to save the 159 service.

"If I've got a hospital, a doctor's or a dental appointment, I won't be able to get to them now," she told the BBC.

"When my grandkids come to stay with me during the holidays, I won't be able to take them anywhere.

"I'm upset about it, I'm really frustrated because it was a lifeline. If it goes, I'm just stranded in the village."

Billie Bhamra said he would be "lost" without a bus service

Billy Bhamra, from Houghton on the Hill, said he was unsure what to do if the bus service from Uppingham to Leicester was axed.

The 71-year-old is disabled and registered blind. He relies on the bus to get to his hospital appointments.

"It will be very bad, because I won't be able to go anywhere," he said.

"Without a bus service, I'm lost."

Councillor Ozzy O'Shea said the decision was down to a lack of use

Speaking to the BBC, Mr O'Shea said the council would give "on-demand transport" to get people to vital services.

"We will not leave anybody high and dry," he said.

"If the people that signed petitions and actually wanted the services used the buses, we wouldn't be in this position we're in today.

"It's the lack of use that's causing this problem."

The authority agreed its financial plan at a full council meeting on Wednesday.

The plan will include capital investment of £509m, service cuts totalling £3m, £59m of "efficiency savings" and a 4.99% council tax increase from April - which raises £17.7m.

Bus services in Leicestershire have been cut by 50%, according to data from the Department for Transport.

The reduction, measured by the distance buses travel since 2016, is the second largest in England, where the average drop was 14%.