Council chiefs have defended cuts in bus services after a FoI request revealed £30m of bus funding was slashed last year alone leading to the closure of hundreds of routes.
Campaign for Better Transport made over 100 freedom of information requests to local authorities and discovered funding for buses across England and Wales had been cut by a third since 2010.
The campaign group found that last year council bus funding was reduced by nearly £30m and over 500 routes were closed as a result.
However, the Local Government Association (LGA) defended council cuts as the necessary result of central Government austerity measures.
LGA transport spokesman Cllr Martin Tett said: ‘Councils know how important buses are for their communities and local economies and are desperate to protect them.
‘However, councils suffered a 40% reduction in core funding over the previous Parliament and are continuing to experience funding pressures.
‘Local government faces a challenging overall funding gap of £5.8bn by 2019/20.’
Cllr Tett also insisted the Government ensure the Bus Services Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, provides councils with ‘more freedom to improve services’.
