Councillors to vote on free buses for veterans

Free bus travel could be offered to army veterans in Worcestershire in a bid to help them get around.

The move would also be extended to serving members of the armed forces, with county councillors being asked to vote on the proposal in a meeting on 6 November.

It follows a trial in Bromsgrove and Malvern, which launched in January, offering free rides.

Councillor Martin Allen, a Falklands veteran who put the idea forward, said: "A lot of veterans struggle to adapt to everyday life - let's show them we care."

There are 22,000 veterans living in Worcestershire, as well as people who are currently working in the armed forces.

Under the deal, either of those groups would be able to travel across the county for free, as long as they show a valid veterans or active service ID card.

Allen said: "Some people come out of the army with horrible injuries and PTSD.

"We can't provide a taxi service, that's obviously unreasonable, but why not provide a free public bus service to help them?

"Most of them are old enough to get their free pensioners' bus pass anyway - but there's a little core of people in the middle who don't get any help at all, they are the ones I'm aiming this towards."

He said he expected the take-up from younger, serving personnel to be much lower as most of those people tend to drive.

The trial in Bromsgrove and Malvern - where veterans are able to use specific council 'on demand' buses for free - has been used around 120 times so far this year.

"We can see from those figures that it won't be a high percentage of users, but it will make a difference to those people who really need it," Allen added.

If the scheme is approved, it would launch in April 2026 in line with the existing pensioners' offer, where OAPs get free bus travel between 9.30am and 11pm during the week and all day on weekends.

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