FRUSTRATED campaigners trying to save a struggling bus service say they are "fighting a losing battle" after discovering the council spent more than £400,000 on additional transport services.
A freedom of information request issued by fundraising group the Friends of the X112, revealed Cumbria County council spent a total of £484,098 of their bus service operators grant for 2016/17 on a variety of maintenance tasks and services which they say are not as viable as the Barrow to Coniston bus.
Barbara Harris, who leads the group believes £10,000 a year would keep their "vital" service running.
She said: "We are fighting a losing battle - there's money there for public transport but it's not for us.
"I think the bus is a social necessity, it's a lifeline for older people in these communities.
"We have to keep going and campaigning because we feel so strongly about it.
"We keep going for the bus and for the people that we think have a right to access the service."
The information comes several months after the group were devastated to learn a government grant of £104,000 was returned after the council were unable to spend it.
Roger Harris, Barbara's husband said: "The authorities they don't understand the social side of it.
"If you don't have a car, you are literally going to be stuck.
"Some of the older people are getting frightened."
The group have been fundraising since Cumbria County council scrapped bus subsidies as part of their cost cutting in 2015.
A spokesperson for Cumbria County Council said: "Bus services in Cumbria are now run on a purely commercial basis – where there is demand and where operators can run a sustainable service, they will run.
"The council’s role is to explore community transport alternatives, such as Rural Wheels or voluntary driver schemes, where a bus service is not viable."
The council recently gave the group a sum of £4,300 to assist with their marketing and advertising but Mrs Harris says they are still "nowhere near" their target.
She said "We are so grateful for the money, I don't want people to think we don't appreciate it.
"I just want to emphasise why we are fighting so hard- it's about the people who have no other way of getting out and about."
READ MORE: Sir Anthony Gormley gets behind struggling Barrow to Coniston bus service
READ MORE: More than £4,000 pours in to save troubled Barrow to Coniston bus service
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