First Group says they cannot continue loss-making routes

As part of the move to reduce losses the company has also announced the closure of its bus depot in St Austell.

The firm is also selling its Truro depot to operate from a smaller site outside the city.

The changes mean about 100 drivers and around 20 engineering and 12 administrative and management staff are at risk of redundancy.

Many of our bus services are losing money, and like all bus companies we simply cannot afford to let that situation continue Gerald Taylor

Gerald Taylor, managing director of First's bus operations in Cornwall, said a final redundancy figure would follow talks over the next three months with unions.

Staff at St Austell and Camborne were hearing the news from managers on Wednesday evening.

Mr Taylor said: "This is one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make.

"We have spent the last six months working hard to recruit drivers to ensure we have a driver for every bus in the timetable.

"Compared to this time last year the reliability of our bus services has improved dramatically."

New timetables

He added: "Sadly we now find ourselves in a situation where many of our bus services are losing money, and like all bus companies we simply cannot afford to let that situation continue.

"If we do keep running loss-making services we would have to make cuts elsewhere and some of our busy routes could be at risk."

A final decision on which routes are to go will be agreed following discussions with Cornwall County Council which spends about �2m a year subsidising loss-making routes.

Services at risk include the 48 and 49 from Camborne to Kehelland and Gwithian, which operate a total of four return journeys a day on Monday to Friday.

Joe Lynch of the National Federation of Bus Users in the south west, told BBC News Online: "This shows that if we want buses we have to pay for them.

"Subsidies for the train companies are about �13m a day, but buses take more passengers, so they should be getting a bigger slice of the cake.

"I expect there will be more cuts in the future."

New timetables are due to be published on 16 May and will be available from First Travel Shops and from Tourist Information Centres. Details will also be available at www.firstgroup.com.