Kendal has seen a fall in people using buses

Council bosses are now considering using public cash to maintain vital services in Kendal used by the elderly, school children and less well-off.

Stagecoach says it faces axing several routes in the town after losing almost a third of its passengers.

Cumbria County Council is considering spending �44,000 to maintain some threatened services until March 2006.

A county council spokesman agreed that Stagecoach had experienced losses on several routes.

'Increased congestion'

He said: "These losses have increased particularly since 2002 and coincided with a reduction in patronage.

"Other economic factors in Kendal will have contributed to this fall, and recent fuel cost rises have further adversely affected Stagecoach's financial position.

"Bus services are disproportionately used by the elderly, young and less well-off, and the withdrawal of these services will disproportionately, adversely affect those sectors of the population.

"There are almost 400,000 passengers carried by them in a year, and the consequences of the services ceasing would be significant in terms of increased congestion, and the accessibility of town centre facilities for those who rely on the services."

Earlier this year, Cumbria County Council subsidised a fares cut experiment in Kendal in an effort to tempt people back onto public transport.