DESPERATE pleas for councillors to change their minds about scrapping funding to 88 bus services in Worcestershire have been rejected – despite it being revealed that 40,000 people in the county do not have access to a car.

The county council’s Liberal Democrat group has lost its attempt to force a rethink over stopping the entire £3 million public transport subsidy.

The Conservative cabinet said the spending was simply unsustainable and suggested that many residents do not see it as a priority.

During clashes in a full council meeting, Lib Dem group leader Councillor Liz Tucker said the cuts would hammer the young, old and vulnerable and was unfair to rural areas.

As your Worcester News revealed two weeks ago, the 88 services run on 43 routes, many of them weekend and evening services.

The council also wants to axe funding for Worcester’s two park and ride services, at Sixways and Perdiswell, and ask private operators to fill some of the service gaps by changing routes or upping their prices.

Coun Tucker said: “When I joined the council in 1981, even then there was a guarantee of at least one weekly bus route to a nearby market town for every village.

“This decision will be so difficult for so many disadvantaged groups. Vulnerable people will be really hurt if you take this subsidy out.”

Data suggesting 40,000 people in Worcestershire have no car access was obtained by the county council’s data gathering team.

Coun Tucker said: “We are a rural shire and tend to forget that we’ve got 40,000 people in the county without access to a car.”

A motion was voted on, calling for the council to rework its sustainable transport policies and cancel a final decision on removing the £3m subsidy until that is complete.

Coun Sue Askin, a fellow Lib Dem, said: “We are very concerned about the effects on the young, the vulnerable and residents who do not have a car.

“It is likely that these bus companies will not be able to make up the services themselves, leading to services reducing or the fares increasing.”

The motion was backed by the Labour group, which accused the Conservative leadership of showing breathtaking indifference to the cuts.

Coun Richard Udall said Coun John Smith, the cabinet member for transport and highways, can travel in his air conditioned car while residents around him struggle.

But the motion was thrown out by 24 votes to 16, with the controlling Tory group refusing to back it and UKIP abstaining.

Coun Smith said: “This is out for consultation, so I think this motion is a bit premature.

“Bus travel is not the only way to get around the county. The fact is, 85 per cent of bus services around the county are run on a commercial basis.

“It’s been a subject at our public consultation roadshows for three years now and every time, it’s come back as a low priority with the public.”

If approved after the consultation, it will apply from September 2014.