Plea from MP for more evening and weekend buses

Worcester's MP has called for more investment into bus services in the city, saying a lack of evening and weekend pickups have had a "devastating" impact.

Tom Collins welcomed a government pledge to cap most bus fares at £2 in 2027, but said people were frustrated at infrequent services.

The Labour MP has also criticised coalition-run Worcestershire County Council, saying millions of pounds in government funding towards public transport had not been invested properly.

The council said it had delivered "a range of improvements" with the money so far, including better services in Worcester, Malvern and Pershore.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced that the £2 bus fare cap would last throughout the whole of next year, down from the current maximum of £2.

Collins said: "I'm frustrated because I think we've had £15m in extra money, provided to Worcestershire, by this government since it came into power (for public transport) and yet that's not been deployed in more bus services.

"We've had a couple of bus services that have improved - and some early signs of hope - but the improvements should have been a lot faster and a lot deeper.

"People in Worcester want more buses in the evening, they want them on a weekend - especially at weekends actually, we've had devastating drops in service."

The MP also said he had been doing his own research with residents, which he claimed showed people were unhappy.

"All the research I've done with residents shows that unless there's a bus to take you back home in the evening, you're not going to take a bus into work in the morning," he added.

The main provider of buses in Worcester is First Bus, which said it continued to "work in partnership with national, regional and local government" on improving services.

But the council's leadership refuted the criticism, and said they believed services were getting better.

Green councillor Matt Jenkins, the leader, said: "Our bus service 'improvement plan' is focused on increasing service frequency, improving reliability and responding to the needs of both rural and urban communities.

"Through the funding received to date we've introduced a number of enhancements, including extended evening services on the 44 and X44 route between Worcester and Malvern, increased frequency on the X50 between Worcester and Pershore, a new hourly Sunday service on the 34 route, and additional early morning and late evening journeys on the 30 and 35 services."

The county council has also been investing in its own on demand bus service, which launched in 2021 in Bromsgrove and operates across several locations in Worcestershire.

Councillor Adam Kent, the deputy leader, said more than 80,000 journeys were made on it over the last year, a record figure.

Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.