Rutland County Council have announced that they will be withdrawing the funding for the R4 bus service between Uppingham and Peterborough.

The service is operated by Central Connect and carries between 11 and 13 children to The King's School in Peterborough. The service provides on return journey each weekday throughout the year and does not operate during the month of August.

The annual cost of subsidising this service is £40,000 per year, which equates to more than £3,000 per passenger.

The county has no statutory duty to provide this service as attendance to The King's School is based on parental choice and not entitled to free home to school transport. Therefore, it is not sustainable for the authority to put this level of funding for non-entitled students when there are wider budget pressures.

Councillor Christine Wise, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Communities said: "As part of our recent Transport Network Review, all bus services across the County have been reviewed to make sure they're affordable. We have a long-term plan to make bus travel more accessible and sustainable. To achieve this, we've had to take the difficult decision to withdraw funding for some services that are no longer viable. A financial commitment of £40,000 each year for a single return journey, five days a week is just not sustainable, given the pressure on our budget."