THE Labour Party has announced it will give powers to run bus services back to local authorities if it wins the general election next year.

The Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Michael Dugher MP, visited Swindon on Thursday to speak with bus users and announce the policy.

Mr Dugher said the party wanted to see control of bus routes given to back to town halls to prevent companies cutting non-profitable routes.

Joined by the Labour parliamentary candidate for South Swindon Anne Snelgrove, the shadow minister saidif bus routes in London could be controlled by the authorities then it should be no different elsewhere.

He said: “There is a real crisis in that 1,300 bus routes have been cut in this country since David Cameron became Prime Minister. I am campaigning here so we can do something about it.

“All too often we hear from bus companies saying they have to cut routes which are under-used because they are losing money, while at the same time making huge profits. They are just cherry picking the profitable routes while removing a vital service for thousands of people.

“The buses in London are run centrally so I don’t see why that shouldn’t be the case everywhere else.”

Anne said there were large parts of Swindon now without bus services, which was leaving them isolated.

She said: “Local people have contacted me many times about bus cuts in Swindon since 2011 and the changes to services. Many services have been merged or altered so journeys take much longer, or have been diverted to different roads.

“This causes great difficulties for pensioners in particular, who rely on the bus service.”

However, South Swindon MP Robert Buckland criticised the plan, which he said had been ill thought-out.

He said: “This un-costed plan will cost councils millions and lead to higher bus fares. A lot of local routes in Swindon are seeing increased use, which is encouraging, and our LEP has received Local Growth Funding from this Government to help develop a rapid transit system to serve Swindon.”