The Christmas park and ride service which ferried thousands of shoppers into the city centre has been axed, it has emerged.

The free service, which has been running since 1991, cost taxpayers £60,000-a-year to run. Council chiefs added that the cost of subsiding a return journey was nearly £6 per person, prompting the decision to scrap the service.

Figures show usage also halved to a record low of fewer than 21,000 trips last year.

Regeneration boss Councillor Paddy Bradley said: “Regretfully we will not be providing a free Christmas park and ride service this year due to our current difficult financial position.

“The passenger numbers have been going down year on year. We can only do what we can afford to do.  We’ve got to be really serious about council tax and people can’t afford to pay the rises that would be needed if we kept putting schemes like this in.”

Councillor Bradley pointed out older people would be unaffected as they were already entitled to free bus travel and insisted the council was still committed to supporting city traders.

Official figures now released showed passengers used the service 35,874 times in 1994, rising to 45,860 in 2000. That figure fell to 20,838 last year.

Motorists travelling into the city over Christmas are now being urged to use free parking at the Priestfield Metro Station, Bilston Road, before using the Midland Metro to finish the journey.

Drivers can also park at Tettenhall Pool, then use bus service 501.

Late night shopping, with stores staying open until 9pm on Wednesdays, starts in the city on November 26 and extends to all weekdays from December 15.