PROTESTORS took to the steps of County Hall in Dorchester this morning to make their voices heard over bus cuts.

The campaigners made their feelings know to councillors ahead of a meeting of Dorset County Council’s environment overview committee, where a motion proposing increased funding for the county’s buses was proposed by Cllr Ros Kayes.

The demonstration also included a performance of a satirical play on bus cuts by the Cartoon Action Theatre players.

Dorset’s Bus Action Group has also been highlighting a report by the Campaign for Better Transport, which claims funding for buses has been cut by 19 per cent in rural areas in the last financial year while in Dorset over the last five years support for buses has been cut by 42 per cent.

A spokesman for the group said: “Dorset County Council is one of the worst offenders with 44 routes having been affected in the last year, and to make things worse, it’s shifting the responsibility onto commercial operators by allowing them to take on routes and then refusing to offer them financial support when the routes become un-commercial.

“That's why we’ve lost the Martinstown buses.”