THE county councillor with the responsibility for rural bus services writes a cogent and reasonable letter in this week's paper outlining the principles behind the council's attempts to cut its subsidies to rural bus services.

Buses tick the right green boxes. If only people would leave their cars behind and hop on the next bus to do their shopping, or whatever, the world in general and Craven in particular would be a much nicer place. And it would be much easier for me to park my car.

Yes, buses are for "other" people. That is why you see empty buses providing a service which it seems comparatively few people really want. The rest of us are paying lip service to green ideals.

It's all very well for the large car-owning majority in the country. For them, the withdrawal of some buses will be a matter of minor regret, a sort of semi-nostalgic pining for the days when buses and trams turned up on time. Meanwhile they jump into their petrol-guzzling 4x4s to pick the kids up from primary school.

For those without any means of transport there will be the loss, or reduction, of a valuable service. These people do exist. They may be a student, keen to get to Craven College to enhance their career prospects; they may be an elderly person wishing to maintain contact with the outside world; they may even be someone who needs a bus to get to and from work.

But buses are always going to lose out against the car. Waiting for a bus in the cold, wondering if it is going to turn up, cannot compete against the luxury of travelling door to door at the time you want in the temperature you like listening to your preferred sounds from the radio.

It is regrettable but inevitable that the county council has to rein back its expenditure on buses. Maybe we should all feel a little bit guilty rather than decrying those making the decision.