A CALL to scrap £480 in school bus charges for hundreds of teenagers across North Yorkshire has been refused by council bosses.

The plea to abolish the charges which have to be paid by 16 to 19-year-olds using school or college transport was made by the Richmondshire Area committee who warned the charges are a tax on families living in rural areas.

There is also mounting concern that the costs are putting some students off carrying on in education because their families cannot afford the charges.

The committee had called on North Yorkshire County’s Council’s executive committee to scrap the charges or alternatively cut further the £480 charge, and offer daily fares. But members decided to take no action.

The authority has abandoned previous plans to increase the cost of an annual bus pass for over 16s by £70 from this September, after protests and a reduced take up of passes when the charges were previously increased in September 2014.

But Councillor Arthur Barker, told members of the executive committee they could not make further cutbacks in the face of huge savings they are already having to make.

The authority has cut £90m over the past four years and faces a further £76m in budget cuts over the next four years.

Cllr Barker added: "In the background of the savings we have to deliver and the importance of meeting those savings, I don’t think we can accede to this. Any increase from £480 will be subject to further consultation."

The Richmondshire Committee had also asked for other controversial moves, to start charging eight to 11-year-olds for home to school transport if they live between two and three miles from school, to be scrapped.

A public consultation has been held and 115 parents objected. Many protested that their children would be unable to walk the two miles to school and it would cause financial hardship for families either through costs of driving the children or paying £380 for an annual primary school bus pass.

These changes would save about £300,000. The county council legally has to pay for primary school children who live more than three miles from the nearest school, but has in the past paid for those living within two miles.

Cllr Barker said a report on this will be considered by the executive committee on May 26.