A DECISION by Cumbria County Council to hand back more than £100,000 that should have gone to community groups to improve local transport services has been condemned.

The local authority was fiercely criticised at a meeting of the full council for returning £104,000 of a £480,000 Bus Operators Grant for 2015/16 to Westminster instead of spending the cash to improve services to rural communities. The grant also supports the Rural Wheels Scheme, Voluntary Car Scheme and Cumbria Community Transport.

Conservative group leader Cllr James Airey said: "Many areas have really struggled over the last couple of years to support a bus route.

"It's an utter disgrace when we've got communities right across the county that this money has not been made available to.

"It's pretty unknown for grant money to be sent back to Government – in this instance almost a quarter of it.

"This is a serious matter and it's a disgrace."

Cllr Keith Little, Labour councillor and cabinet member for highways and transport, said that he expects a similar scenario this coming financial year and refused to apologise. He added that there had been a lack of applications.

Eden district councillor Andy Connell, who was heavily involved in trying to rescue the now-defunct 563 service from Kirkby Stephen to Penrith, said he believes the situation CCC now finds itself in is due to the decision to stop subsidies two years ago.

"What they should have done is review each route on its own merit," he said. "They didn't do that and instead just slashed everything.

"They then earmarked this grant for community schemes. But the problem was they couldn't find enough people who wanted it because the schemes are extremely difficult to set up.

"Of course it would have (come in useful) but they hamstrung themselves. They would have to change their own resolutions (to give the money to services) and then the problem is you've got a hundred thousand or so – who do you give it to? There's routes all around the county being pulled by operators, it's not just here. It's a deeply unsatisfactory situation."