Councillor in plea for more buses

More buses are needed to cater for people who work and shop in Kidderminster and to serve the town's railway station, it was claimed today.

Bus companies are being urged to provide more frequent services and better ticketing.

Worcestershire County Councillor Nigel Knowles urged bus companies to get together to run more services to Kidderminster railway station and to improve the frequency on some routes to help commuters.

He said that "a more sensible frequency of buses" would help persuade people travelling to work to use public transport instead of cars.

A 15-minute service, he said, should be introduced on some routes between 7.30am and 9.30am and in the evening between 5pm and 7pm.

The calls for improvements to bus services in the district follow a survey by Labour party members after complaints from people who said they depended on public transport to reach both work and shops.

Steve Zanker, commercial director for First bus company, said: "It is all down to the amount of passengers who use the buses but I will be talking to councillor Knowles about the provision of services and whether we can jointly move things forward. We cannot negotiate joint routes with other bus companies because of regulations by the Office of Fair Trading."