CAMPAIGNERS who have been fighting to save a bus service have been left "livid" and "disgusted" after vital community funds were sent back to the government.

The X112 bus service between Barrow and Coniston, which includes the A5087 coast road on its route, has been kept alive temporarily after thousands of pounds were raised over the course of 2016 to keep the service going.

However, in spite of the crisis, Cumbria County Council decided to hand back to government more than £100,000 worth of grants which could have been given to community groups to improve local transport services.

Barbara Harris, a founding member of the Friends of the X112 group, said that the "pot is drying up" despite their best efforts as she condemned Cumbria County Council for sending the money back to the government.

She said: "We need to raise £20,000 a year as a group - could they not see what difference a fraction of that amount could have made to us?

"The pot is drying up and obviously money is tight so that is why a contribution from the council which we have begged for would have been most acceptable."

According to Keith Little, a county councillor and the cabinet member for highways and transport, the money was sent back to government because no groups applied for the grant.

However, Mrs Harris said she was never made aware that there was a grant that her group could apply for.

She said: "I am actually horrified because we have asked and asked and asked Cumbria County Council and I have never heard a whiff of this, which is annoying.

"I am disgusted - we had no inkling that money was there to share out. They are wrong in not disclosing this. They should have told us the truth before sending the money back."

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Anne Hall, South Lakeland District councillor for Coniston and Crake Valley, said that she was "beyond livid" at Cumbria County Council's decision after campaigners raised almost £40,000 to keep their beloved bus route alive.

She said: "Nobody in their right minds would give a grant back to government. They could have given it to groups in need all over the county.

"That bus route is vital and a lot of elderly people use it so that they can have someone to talk to. It really does raise people's spirits.

"I would like to think that we can get that money back. We have got to raise £20,000 this year to keep it going but each year you start to run out of ideas and the team gets smaller."

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