Bus services in Derbyshire are getting �1.2m in government funding just days after probation chiefs said criminals have to be given free taxi rides because of poor public transport.

Derbyshire County Council was awarded the grant to increase the number of buses to and from the Peak District and other rural areas.

The authority will have �954,000 to spend on increasing the number of buses along the A6 through Derbyshire, creating an hourly service between Derby and Buxton.

A further �320,960 will go towards improving community transport services for people living in Buxton, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Castleton, Whaley Bridge and New Mills.

Free rides

The money is coming from the Department of Transport's Rural Bus Challenge, which aims to improve public transport in rural areas.

Earlier this week, the National Probation Service in Derbyshire said offenders serving community rehabilitation orders in the region sometimes struggled to get to courses, which form part of their sentence.

The service said these people were then given free taxi rides.

A probation service spokeswoman said: "In very exceptional cases we do lay on taxis, but only if there is no other alternative.

"It is not a question of it being inconvenient for offenders to take public transport, but a question of it sometimes being impossible."

The offenders, who must attend courses in Derby or Chesterfield, face breaching their sentence and could be ordered back to court if they fail to turn up on time for the sessions.

The spokeswoman said that some faced three-hour bus journeys to attend the courses and round trips of more than 100 miles.