No buses unless council pays up
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• The Department of the Environment has rejected an appeal by Durham county council, supported by several district councils, that United Automobile Services Ltd, should be obliged to maintain a number of unprofitable bus services, at its own expense, and without financial aid from local rates. The county council originally rejected an application by the company for financial help, and maintained that the firm should maintain uneconomic routes from profitable town services.
The county council asked the Northern Traffic Commissioners to make this a condition of the firm's licence, but the Commissioners refused. Durham county council thereupon appealed to the DoE. Rejecting the county council's contention, the Minister said that United was entitled to propose that unremunerative services, placing an unreasonable burden on its operations and on the travelling public should become the subject of a grant, or else be discontinued.