BUS passengers in Poole have until February 14 to give their views on council proposals to cut £100,000 from its £800,000 subsidy.

Some services with fewer passengers, such as many of those that run in the evenings, at the weekend or away from busy roads, require financial support to be viable and it is these that are under scrutiny.

The council’s bus subsidy is one of the areas under investigation for potential savings as it strives to cut its cloth by £22.8million over the next four years.

The intention is to improve efficiency by combining routes or reducing their frequency rather than losing entire services.

A list of proposals has been put together, in consultation with Wilts & Dorset, that could generate savings of up to £100,000 a year. This includes Sunday changes to routes 4, 8 and 9, 11, 14 and 16; evening changes to routes 4, 8 and 9, 5 and 6; daytime routes 32, 1 and 50.

John McVey, passenger transport and accessibility manager, Borough of Poole, said: “So far we have received well over 200 responses to the consultation.

“In addition, bus passengers have been giving their views to surveyors travelling on the affected services. There is still time for people to give their comments on these proposals and we would encourage everyone to take part.”

Cllr Xena Dion, cabinet portfolio holder for transportation said: “We understand how important the bus service is for many of our residents and any decision that affects this service will not be taken lightly.

“Unfortunately it is no longer possible for us to provide all the services that we would like. With ever increasing pressures on our budget, it is becoming more and more difficult to avoid services being affected.”

For more information go to boroughofpoole.com