FAR be it from me to speak ill of the dead.

But I had misgivings about the praise lavished recently on the late Ron Carrington for his part in the deregulation of the region's bus network.

Mr Carrington, a former chairman of Hereford-Worcester County Council who died last year, had a keen interest in transport matters.

People who thronged Worcester Cathedral for a memorial service, which I also attended, were reminded that the southern link road and the so-called new bridge were projects that owed a great deal to him.

Mr Carrington was very interested when the Thatcher Government revealed in the mid-80s how it wanted the apparently staid national bus network transformed into a dynamic, market-led enterprise.

He signed up to let a pilot project operate in Herefordshire and the rest, one might say, is history.

What a shame the free marketeers' hopes were somewhat nave.

The Evening News has highlighted on several occasions of late the sorry state of First Midland Red, whose single-decker machines splutter their way about the Faithful City.

The firm's drivers are voting with their feet, complaining of poor pay and conditions as well as abuse from furious passengers.

First Midland Red is owned by FirstGroup plc, which claims its turnover tops £2bn.

A lack of funds to rejuvenate Worcestershire's public transport isn't the problem, surely.

Maybe there needs to be change at the top, to introduce a raft of managers possessed of imagination and ability.

New Labour can't do a great deal about the bus service while it remains in the private sector's hands assuming the party wants to lift standards.

Isn't it time Johnny Two Jags Prescott thought the unthinkable and tried re-nationalisation?