First Bus will increase the cost of its single, return and FirstTen tickets by more than 4% from Wednesday.

And train operator First Great Western has increased its unregulated fares by about 6%. It said its costs had gone up and it needed the money for investment.

Commuter groups called the above inflation train fare increases "unfair" and "unjustified".

'Government subsidy'

A spokesman for First Bus said: "We only move fares as a last resort and have been forced to do so as a result of increased costs in areas such as day-to-day fleet management and operating costs including fuel, vehicle insurance, staff salaries, cleaning costs and maintenance to cover refurbishments and general wear and tear.''

While a First Great Western spokesman added: "No-one likes to pay higher rail fares but First Great Western faces rising business costs such as increased staff and fuel bills.

"Also, it is important to note that in the past year there has been a change from government subsidy to paying the government for the franchise."