MOTORISTS in the Malvern Hills district will be encouraged to leave cars at home and hop on the buses as the area's chiefs have appointed the district's first transport officer.

Madeleine Sumner joins Malvern Hills District Council from Community First in the town. One of her main focus will be to cut the number of private cars on the road.

The appointment has been made after the local authority identified local transport as one of six key areas to focus on for the current year.

Ms Sumner was previously involved with rural transport and development in Herefordshire and Worcestershire at Community First in Church Street.

She has also worked in an advisory capacity on a regional rail passenger committee and her responsibilities in her new role will include looking after the council's concessionary fares scheme.

The initiative offers half-price travel to those aged 60 and above for any journey starting and finishing in the county of Worcestershire.

Ms Sumner will also liaise with Worcestershire County Council in a bid to improve services for the district and address changes and cuts to routes.

Her appointment - which is being funded by the local authority until 2007 - comes as the council has put the area's bus services in the spotlight in a bid to make improvements - and follows on from a similar exercise with rail operators last year.

She will play an integral role in the process - attending the council's overview and scrutiny meetings on bus transport - and will examine areas such as trying to better publicise information on rail and bus services.

Transport portfolio holder Councillor Roger Sutton said the local authority had many key areas they were keen for her to work on.

"Transport is one of the council's priorities so we're particularly pleased to get Madeleine on board," he said.

"She clearly has a vast amount of experience in terms of rural transport issues around this area and will be a big asset to us in terms of trying to drive forward our plans for transport in the Malvern Hills."