SHOCKING new figures have revealed that 1.7million fewer miles were covered by buses in Halton over the past year.

This is due to services being ‘decimated’ by the Conservatives according to Weaver Vale MP Mike Amesbury.

Total bus journeys in the borough had fallen by 1.7million miles in 2021-22 compared with five years previously – a massive 43 per cent decline – as private operators retain only the most profitable routes.

Nationally, more than 1,000 services were lost in the last year alone, despite the Tories promising London-style bus services outside the capital, the Runcorn MP said.

Meanwhile, Department for Transport figures show fares have surged by 45 per cent since 2010, twice as fast as wages, putting huge pressure on passengers.

Mr Amesbury said: “Bus users are being failed by a Tory Government that has no idea about the struggles many people face using public transport for work, education, or leisure.

“Areas like mine deserve regular, joined-up, affordable bus services. That is why Labour will hand power and control of our bus services back to communities.”

Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, has vowed to reform the country’s broken bus system by delivering the biggest shake-up to the sector in forty years.

She says Britain is the only country in the developed world where bus operators have the power to set routes and fares, with no say for local people.  

Power and control would be handed back to communities along the lines currently being developed in Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester by Labour metro mayors Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham.

This would be achieved through the ‘Take Back Control Act’ in the first King’s Speech of an incoming Labour government.