TWENTY bus services are facing the chop in Wyre Forest after Worcestershire County Council plans to scrap a £3 million taxpayer’s subsidy for public transport.

A total of 88 services running on 43 routes will be cut across Worcestershire unless private companies express an interest to take on the services, with higher prices or reduced pick-ups, to make money.

The 20 threatened services in Wyre Forest are across nine bus routes, four of which take school children to and from Wolverley CE Secondary School.

The Conservative cabinet is meeting on today to agree to launch a major consultation before anything is decided. The transport subsidy is due to end in September next year.

Wolverley Secondary School headteacher Richard North said: “I’ll be contacting our local councillors, we are a semi-rural school so we do depend a lot on public transport to get our students to and from school.

“We have children travel from all over Kidderminster and as far as Stourport.

“This is a challenge for everybody. There are implications unknown that will come out financially and educationally.”

The 192 and 7 Whittle Coach and Bus service from Kidderminster to Halesowen, Greenhill and Wolverley School, transports 162,876 passengers a year.

Councillor Simon Geraghty, deputy leader and the cabinet member for economy, skills and infrastructure, said: “The key thing to remember is that this is the start of the process ahead of us and there will be a consultation. No decisions will be made until then.

“Only 20 per cent of bus services in Worcestershire are subsidised, 80 per cent are commercial, and this is £3 million out of the £30 million we need to save next year.”

County council leader Adrian Hardman said: "At the moment taxpayers' money plugs gaps in the commercial network, usually the less popular or less well used services.

"A crucial point to understand with these proposals is that we're not talking about any change to the commercially operated bus services, which make up the vast majority of all buses running on our roads in Worcestershire."

Threatened services.

KEY: Route, operator, service number, passengers per year, subsidy per passenger

Astley Burf - Stourport (Fridays), Coniston Coaches, 213, 917, £2.94.

Kidderminster – Droitwich and school services, Diamond Bus, 133, 833, 18,375, £1.05.

Kidderminster – Worcester via Stourport, Diamond Bus, 294 / 295, 65,851, £0.97.

Kidderminster – Ferndale/Franche and Wolverley School, Diamond Bus, 4, 4A, 5, 830, 831, 50,506, £0.41.

Kidderminster – Greenhill/Sion Hill/Fairfield/Kinver and Wolverley School, Whittle Coach and Bus, 7, 580, 830, 831, 61,518, £0.38.

Stourport – Burlish – Kidderminster, Whittle Coach and Bus, 192, 125, 577, £0.34.

Kidderminster – Halesowen/Greenhill and Wolverley School, Whittle Coach and Bus, 7, 192, 162,876, £0.34.

Sion Hill/Puxton – Wolverley Sec School, Whittle Coach & Bus, 834, 835, 10,805, £0.28.

Tenbury Wells – Kidderminster, R & B Travel, 291, 21,878, £3.11.