North Yorkshire bus subsidies face 25% cut

A proposal to cut by a quarter the amount of money North Yorkshire County Council spends on subsidising bus journeys has been put to consultation.

One fifth of journeys were "not commercially viable" and cost £4.4m a year in subsidies, the council said.

The Conservative-run authority has to meet a £92m savings target by 2015.

If the proposal is approved, as many communities as possible would retain a "basic" bus service to their nearest market town, the council said.

'Huge financial pressures'

Chris Metcalfe, executive member for passenger transport, said the council realised bus services were a "lifeline" for many people.

"However, we have huge financial pressures and we have to reduce our expenditure across the board," he said.

If approved, the cut in bus subsidies would mean a budget saving of £1.1m a year, the council said.

The public consultation is due to finish on 25 November.