OVER the last six months the Echo has been receiving correspondence regarding free transport for pensioners, many disappointed that Southampton was not included in the county of Hampshire scheme despite the prohibitive cost, resulting in threats to cut some services.

When free travel by buses everywhere is introduced in April 2008, the Government will not be meeting the full expense of this luxury. The bus companies are already counting the cost and how they will cope with the number of passengers using their services. Do we really count freebies when so many of the elderly are not receiving enough to live on with an independent state pension leaving no relation to the cost of living?

Don Harper wrote recently of this fact and we should be grateful to him and his colleagues at Pensioners Forum who continue to fight for a long overdue increase.

We are being palmed off with free bus passes, and as Norma Cleverly wrote recently an insulting £10 for Christmas, this week £200 - £100 heating allowance (Christmas shopping money for many), not to mention the pathetic annual increase in April. Many are on Pension Credit as only the poorest pensioners receive the benefit, others struggle to make ends meet.

The money we should be having is going to Africa, Gaza, and Olympic Games, not to mention House of Lords' expenses!

MARGARET WORK, Bassett Green Village