HEREFORDSHIRE Council is to withdraw subsidies for seven rural bus services in the county.

From April 9, a £175,000 subsidy for services – which was reintroduced on a one-year trial period for 2015 to 2016 – will be withdrawn entirely.

The council was explicit when reinstating the subsidies that it would be for one year only, putting an emphasis on individual communities to show passenger numbers could be sustained in future without subsidy.

The funding withdrawal will mean that the 490 off-peak service linking Leominster and Ludlow – as well as villages in between – will be axed.

A service running between Bodenham and Leominster – the 427 – would also no longer be operated.

Councillor Felicity Norman said she believes the withdrawal could be 'very damaging' for Leominster and could reduce bus travel as a whole.

"It's a really worrying step," she said. “There have been a number of groups set up both trying to lobby the council and also to encourage people to use the services.

"So often they run at the wrong times and are not the handiest times for most people. What we really do not have is a proper system for people who want to get to work at a fairly routine time."

However, a working group has been set up to consider what can be done for rural transport in Leominster and its surrounding parishes.

"We are going to have to be creative, imaginative and look at different ways we can provide support for people," Cllr Norman added.

"Within the Leominster Town Council budget there has been an allocation of up to £10,000 for looking at some sort of travel options. That doesn't mean we are going to subsidise any of the mainstream services but we will look at all the options.

"We need partners and we need the other parishes to look at what they can do as well. "There's no clear obvious answer and we are not going to be unrealistic."

Other services affected include:

33 Hereford to Ross-on-Wye (evening and Sunday morning journeys)

40 Ross town service (circular) Monday to Saturday

449 Hereford to Madley (Mondays to Thursdays)

461 Hereford - Credenhill - Weobley - Kington (Mondays to Saturdays)

476 Hereford - Ledbury (Mondays to Thursdays)

In a statement, Herefordshire Council said the £175,000 funding for rural bus services was part of additional funding to reintroduce some rural journeys previously withdrawn in Sept 2014.

"This additional funding was only for a year from April 2015 to early April 2016 and allowed journeys to be reintroduced to assess demand whilst we consulted with parish councils on how they could maintain services in light of the cuts made by central government," it said.

"The funding will not be available in the next financial year, and inevitably this will affect some rural journeys."