FREE bus travel for pensioners is, on the face of it, a good idea. The problem, of course, is that nothing is ever truly free.

There is a cost attached to everything and in the case of concessionary travel in this county it is being borne by the city of Worcester.

As we report today, the cost of free bus travel for OAPs is the root cause of Worcester City Council’s latest financial crisis. The scheme is expected to cost the city – and therefore the council tax payer – almost £500,000 more than anticipated.

A Government grant is meant to pay for the scheme but the £1 million in Guildhall coffers from Whitehall only covers around half of the cost for the financial year to next April.

Other councils, meanwhile, have received more than they need.

Worcester is particularly hard-hit because it houses the county’s main bus station. This means pensioners come into the city from other districts to catch a bus – and Worcester has to pay the cost rather than the council area in which they live.

And every time the bus companies increase their fares the cost to the city council of free pensioner travel goes up as well.

We have some sympathy for the city council on this issue. It is clear that Worcester’s “county town”

status should be recognised in the settlement it receives from Government. There needs to be a redistribution of the grant money paid out to Worcestershire’s councils.

The alternative is increased council tax bills and that is unacceptable.