Last bus subsidies scrapped across Bridgend county

Bridgend bus station could lose up to £4,000 a year

Bus companies have been told they will need to fund their own services in Bridgend county after the council scrapped all remaining subsidies.

Eight services through three private operators will be hit by the move which would save the council £148,000 a year.

A cabinet meeting heard it would take 10 paying customers to make a route viable and that it was time firms "got their act together".

Six services had subsidies scrapped last year.

Councillors heard the majority of those routes were retained on a commercial basis by the bus operator but there were changes in frequencies.

The latest cuts will affect services between Bridgend and Blaengarw, Maesteg Parc and Maesteg Town Centre, and Dan-y-Graig and Porthcawl, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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Deputy leader Hywel Williams said it was a very sad situation the local authority found itself in.

"This is clearly a very unpalatable report," he said. "It's a consequence of austerity and where we are."

Richard Young, cabinet member for communities, added: "The message has consistently gone out that if you don't use these services you will lose them.

"We don't have public bus services, we have private enterprises providing a service for a profit."

Council leader Huw David said he and Mr Young would continue to make the case for the the much-mooted South Wales Metro to invest in bus services.

"It's a service that's important to so many communities across Wales," he said.

"While there has been the initial investment in the Metro by Welsh Government the initial phases very much focus on rail services.

"We hope future phases will focus on bus services as well."