ANDREW Lansley, MP for South Cambridgeshire, whose constituency includes Papworth, Caxton and Cambourne, is pressing the Government to re-think its new concessionary bus fares scheme. He said: The Government s new concessionary bus fares scheme has made

ANDREW Lansley, MP for South Cambridgeshire, whose constituency includes Papworth, Caxton and Cambourne, is pressing the Government to re-think its new concessionary bus fares scheme.

He said: "The Government's new concessionary bus fares scheme has made the situation worse for residents of South Cambridgeshire than it was before April 1".

He said the new scheme - free travel within district boundaries, which replaced half-price travel throughout the county - made it more expensive for some residents to use public transport to travel to Cambridge than to drive there and use the park and ride facilities.

"How can that help the environment or road congestion?" he asked. "The new scheme makes it more expensive for Gamlingay residents to get to shopping centres in St Neots, Cambridge, Bedford and Biggleswade and to access health and dental services.

"The new scheme is a nonsense and should be reconsidered. It is a nonsense for my constituents in South Cambridgeshire, who have written to me in their hundreds, and it is not good enough to have to wait for the proposed free nation-wide travel scheme in 2008.

"I know that our local authorities are looking at whether the current scheme could be made to work better in Cambridgeshire, but I would like to see some 'concession' from the Government to ensure that their 'concessionary scheme' doesn't disadvantage our pensioners in South Cambridgeshire.