BUS lanes through Powick and the St John's area of Worcester are included in a transport vision to crack down on congestion.

The vision, outlined at the first Malvern Hills Spotlight forum, included a range of measures giving buses priority over cars, with shared taxis linking to key bus stops under a county council scheme.

Worcester Express buses, launched in the city two weeks ago, would be extended to Malvern as a priority.

People at the Malvern meeting backed the plan, despite fears that reliance on cars might be too "ingrained and entrenched" to make it work.

Latest figures show more than 6,000 cars travelling from Malvern to Worcester on the A449 at peak morning hours, with up to 4,000 cars heading out of the city towards Malvern at the same time.

To avoid Government-imposed congestion charges, the area desperately needed a high-quality, high-frequency bus service, integrated with other forms of transport, said the county council's head of passenger transport management Pete Browne.

"We're talking innovative thinking in a bold approach

to address Malvern's traffic problems, not just pouring money into the district," he told an audience at Malvern Hills College.

"That means the introduction of a bus service that's easily understandable, buses that are frequent and reliable, clear options for parking and pricing, long term certainty about the future and workable door-to-door options."

The planners' vision for Malvern up to 2010 includes:

l A core network of Worcester Express-style buses

l Bus priority over cars

l Integration with car, rail, pedestrians and cyclists

l Free travel for the under 19s to cut down on the school run

l Shared taxi services feeding key points.

Other elements include bendy-buses, free travel for the over-60s, two new park-and-ride sites and using spare car parking at Sixways and Worcestershire Royal Hospital at the weekends.