A CAR-sharing scheme launched by Oxfordshire County Council is only being used for 78 regular journeys, despite costing County Hall more than £35,000.

The Oxfordshire Car Scheme was set up in August last year, with the aim of cutting down congestion and pollution on the county’s roads.

It has cost the council £35,047 to start and maintain, but only has 407 registered members.

The council said 436 journeys had been registered, with 186 people swapping details and an estimated 78 regular journeys.

More than 9,000 people have signed up for a similar scheme run by Wiltshire County Council, launched in 2003, and more than 2,000 have registered in Somerset, after a site was set up in January.

More than 1,500 people regularly use Buckinghamshire’s car sharing scheme, launched in 2006, with more than 7,500 people registered in Devon, which started in 2003.

The payments, revealed under a Freedom of Information Act request, show the council spent £57,750 on all travel-related advertising with county radio station Jack FM.

It comes as the authority prepares to cut £119m over four years from its £1bn-a-year budget and has proposed cutting funding from about half of youth centres and some libraries.

Taxpayers’ Alliance spokesman Charlotte Linacre said: “Car-sharing schemes can be a good idea but they needn’t cost the earth. Taxpayers will be angry to see that this costly scheme hasn’t delivered great results.”

Save Oxfordshire Libraries group campaigner Judith Wardle said: “I think, in principle, it sounds like a good idea, but they obviously haven’t promoted it well enough.

“The council is usually very good at promoting the positive things it is doing.”

She added: “It might sound like a good idea, but it’s obviously not cost-effective at the moment.”

The website is run by private firm Liftshare, which estimates the average commuter saves £780 a year by sharing a regular journey.

Council spokesman Owen Morton said: “The car-share scheme is a worthy project aimed at helping the environment, cutting congestion and saving money for motorists at a time when the cost of running a car is more expensive than ever.

“Any new scheme of this nature cannot be expected to grow without significant start-up investment.”

Cash went on the website, database and licensing, said Mr Morton. He estimated that 126,000 miles, worth £26,000, had already been saved with car shares.

Visit oxfordshirecarshare.com for details