ELDERLY and disabled people from Malvern will receive bus passes in May giving them half-price travel across county boundaries.

Malvern Hills District Council has negotiated new terms with First Midland Red to allow all pensioners and disabled people in the area to travel half-price on buses, not only within the district but also out to the rest of Worcestershire, to Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.

The new terms were agreed after a previous scheme was criticised for only offering half-price travel within the district.

People wanting to travel beyond that or outside the county borders to Ledbury, Tewkesbury or Gloucester would have had to pay a levy in order to claim a year's worth of discounted fares.

Kevin Douglas, corporate director at MHDC, said they had managed to negotiate new terms within their budget.

"The only criteria is that the journeys must start and finish in Worcestershire," he said.

"We'll be writing to parish councils to let them know about the scheme and people can make postal applications for the passes. We'll also be going out to village halls in places like Upton, Tenbury and Kempsey to distribute the passes during the last two weeks in May."

Coun Tom Wells, who condemned the previous scheme as a "missed opportunity" said the new scheme was a huge improvement.

"Fifteen per cent of people in the Malvern Hills area do not have access to a car and many of them are pensioners and their main obstacle to public transport is the high fares," he said.

"We've also got to remember that these passes are not just about providing subsidised travel but about providing an affordable alternative to cars."

The new scheme is due to be up and running in June this year.