The total number of miles driven by buses in Cumbria has plummeted by 15% compared to five years ago, according to recent statistics.

The statistics were among those that revealed the North West has been the most drastically impacted in England with 2,228 bus services cut across the region.

Over half of the services in the North West have been slashed since 2010 with local bus routes declining by 52 percent.

This has prompted Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Barrow and Furness Michelle Scrogham to join others across the county in launching a survey to gain the thoughts of local residents about improving local bus services.

Mrs Scrogham joins three parliamentary candidates - Josh MacAlister for Whitehaven & Workington, Julie Minns for Carlisle and Markus Campbell-Savours for Penrith & Solway.

The Labour hopefuls have also written to the government demanding more funding for local bus services to better connect towns and rural communities across Cumbria.

Mrs Scrogham said: "The Conservatives have failed our communities on public transport. We’ve seen school pupils stranded, pensioners struggling to get around and whole communities cut off, so delivering a service that’s fit for purpose is vital.

"Locals have had to contend with an ever-declining public transport system, but with Labour's plan to allow communities to take back control of bus services, we can finally get a grip on what is really needed."

Nationally Labour,  promised to launch the biggest reform of 'Britain’s broken bus system in forty years', giving services back into the hands of the communities that depend on them.

The survey can be found here. The Mail has contacted Barrow MP Simon Fell for comment.