Janine Jansen Politics Show South West

Public transport is vital for many people, and it is especially important for those living in remote parts of the South West.

Only one in five people in Cornwall have access to a car.

First Group says they cannot continue loss-making routes

But the private bus company First, which operates routes in Devon and Cornwall, says it is making a loss because there are not enough passengers to keep the links going.

It is axing 15 routes in Cornwall and cutting around 140 jobs.

But bus drivers say they will resist the redundancies and will strike if necessary.

Strangely the news comes just 9 months after a massive recruitment drive for more bus drivers.

Some only very recently qualified drivers have now been told they will lose their jobs.

Pressures on budget

Cornwall County Council subsidises bus services to the tune of �4m a year, but it says increasing pressure on the budget is making it more difficult to maintain rural bus services.

The Head of Transport for Cornwall County Council, Colin Jarvis says:

"I think we need to move away from more conventional forms of public transport, and I think it is going to be important for the future that we look to more community based transport, things like taxi-buses and dial-a-rides".

But it is not just Cornwall that is affected, in Somerset, 14 bus services are being cut from June, with a further 6 being withdrawn from July.

John Bates from Somerset County Council says:

"We have tried very hard to keep the rural villages with a service as far a possible, keeping the transport to and from work going, but sometimes we have just had to cut into the services.

"We have not just done it on the grounds that the services are poorly used, because there are social aspects which have to be taken into account as well."

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