PASSENGERS who travel to Liverpool by bus have been told they must pay to keep the service running after Winsford Town Council decided to stop subsidising the route.

The GHA Coaches’ X22 bus service was axed by Cheshire West and Chester Council 12 months ago, as they deemed it was used for ‘social use on Saturdays’ and therefore not a priority service.

Winsford Town Council stepped in to subsidise the service for six months, which was extended for a further six months, but now they have revealed they can no longer afford to pay to keep it running.

From April 1, 2015, the X22 service will run from Winsford fortnightly on a Saturday, with every passenger required to pay £7.50.

Cindy Byers, 71, who has lived in Winsford since 1969, said: “A lot of people are up in arms about it.

“Some people have said they’ll pay it but the majority are saying ‘why should we pay when we’ve got a bus pass?’

“We want a bus to take us to Liverpool. We’re really concerned. Why is the Liverpool bus getting hampered all the time?

“When I go to Liverpool I got to see my family, and there’s an awful lot of people who go on the Liverpool bus to see their family down there. I’m getting restricted.”

During the three-month trial, if the £250 fee isn’t met to cover the cost of the journey, the council has agreed to pay the balance. The council will decide on the future of the service before June 30.

Winsford Town Councillor, Cllr Don Beckett said: “The council reconsidered the service after six months and decided to continue to subsidise the cost of the service.

“That takes us to the end of March this year.

“We gave no commitment that after that date we would carry on indefinitely actually subsidising it, we didn’t promise that.”

The council also agreed to run the service every Saturday through Liverpool’s One Magnificent City, which runs from May 15 to the weekend of July 3-5.

Cllr Mike Kennedy said: “We as a town council have a limited budget, and we’re really trying to help the best way we can with our budget.

“But it was not our problem. We didn’t start it. We’re trying to solve it.”