CALLS are being made for more taxpayers cash to be sunk into Worcestershire's bus services - two years after funding was cut.

The Liberal Democrat group at Worcestershire County Council says bus routes have been allowed to "wither on the vine" due to spending reductions.

It follows a 2014 move to shrink subsidised transport spending from £3 million a year to £1.6 million, with weekend and evening routes particularly affected.

Cllr Liz Tucker, Lib Dem group leader, now says the sum needs to be reviewed, insisting services will never improve while the money is "a fixed amount".

She also says with concern around congestion, one way to ease it would be to restore some of the support.

The Conservative leadership has responded by pointing to 80 per cent of bus services being commercially run at no cost to the taxpayer.

Cllr Tucker said: "To let public transport wither on the vine when we have more and more problems on the road, and more issues in people getting around, doesn't make sense to me.

"We need to review this fixed amount."

The 2014 decision led to the closure of Worcester's park and ride at Perdiswell and scores of buses either having their routes cut or prices increased to carry on operating.

It led to 13 services ending and another 52 altering in frequency, with some stops deleted in order to carry on.

At one point the council was considering scrapping the entire £3 million subsidised transport fund, but changed tack after a public outcry and a record 8,500 responses to the consultation.

Cllr Marcus Hart, cabinet member for highways, said: "The sum of £1.6 million was the financial envelope democratically agreed by this council.

"My question would be, what would we have to take money out of in order to put more into this?

"Do we take more money from health visitors, more from children's centres, more from fixing the roads and pavements, to do this?

"These are the stark choices we have to make - and we should remember 80 per cent of our bus services are commercially provided."

Last year pressure group The Campaign for Better Transport named Worcestershire among six parts of the UK where cuts have been the deepest.