ANGRY councillors are demanding Hampshire County Council does a U-turn over proposals that would leave part of Hampshire with practically no night bus service.

A storm of protest has already erupted over the £500,000 cuts by the county's transport chiefs.

If the plans go ahead Fareham would be left with 13 of its 15 wards having no buses after 7.30pm.

Councillor Peter Davies is pleading with the county council to think again as fears grow that the town's night-time economy could be wrecked.

Councillor Davies said: "Any public service cuts hit the poor, and cuts in bus services will always hit the poor, who are most dependent on the services.

"If you take away bits of the network, the whole thing declines. If the original cuts come into place then 13 of the 15 wards in Fareham will have no bus services after 7.30pm.

"You need to be very smart about how you use the subsidies. Let's look at the individual buses within the routes that are not worth saving."

Councillor Roger Price said: "The policy of this council and the county council is to encourage people on to public transport. We have a fairly vibrant town centre where people want to come in the evening. The last thing we want is to lose that.

"If the buses go, the only way people will be able to get there is by car. The drink-drive rate is going up, and the only way we can discourage that is by providing public transport."

The head of the county council's environment department, Councillor Mel Kendal, has asked for further reports on some routes, saying he may reverse his decision.

Bus operators have now been given 56 days' notice of the funding withdrawal, although Cllr Kendal said it was still possible that some of the routes where subsidy had been withdrawn could remain operating commercially or with help from district councils.

He said the decision was not about cutting bus services, but reducing bus subsidies.