FREE bus travel for pensioners has cost Bournemouth council almost £1m since it began in April this year, it has been revealed.

Cabinet member for transport Cllr Robert Lawton said that it was having a "significant effect" on the council budget particularly as Bournemouth, as a leading tourist resort, has to pay for the bus travel of elderly people holidaying in the town.

And large numbers of pensioners who would previously have walked or cycled are now said to be hopping on the bus for a couple of stops contributing to the strain on the budget, he said.

Bournemouth Borough Council revealed that costs have increased by almost 50 per cent since the government extended its concessionary bus travel scheme on April 1 to allow the over-60s and the eligible disabled free off-peak bus travel anywhere in the country.

It cost the council £633,000 for the period April 1 to June 30 2007, but for the same period in 2008 costs had leapt to £946,000. The council said it is too early to say if the current £5.593m budget is sufficient to meet costs.

The number of journeys has also increased by just over 40 per cent.

Cllr Lawton has called on the government to increase the grant to resorts like Bournemouth.

Cllr Lawton said: "They need to give us more money to try and address the difference between what it is actually costing us and what they are giving us.

"What we are finding is that a lot more pensioners are using the bus because of the free pass," he added.

The council plans to lobby MPs to make representations to the government for an increase in the grant they receive, he said.

Andrew Wickham, operations director at Wilts & Dorset bus company, added: "The government needs to increase funding. A lot of people on the buses is a good thing - good for the environment, good for congestion and for the economy and for people who have less money who wouldn't otherwise be getting out."