THE decision by this Government to remove the fuel duty rebate from coach companies, which allowed them to offer a discounted half-price fare to elderly and disabled travellers, will have a devastating effect on our most vulnerable citizens.

Many people with low incomes or mobility problems relied on the concession as a lifeline to visit family and friends across the country and could not afford the exorbitant cost of rail travel.

Many pensioners and disabled are also fearful that this is a preliminary to dismantling the concessionary bus pass.

This concession has existed since 2001 and covered the whole UK and was probably prior to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales having separate functioning parliaments. What is not made public is that the withdrawal of the half-price scheme will only be borne by English disabled and pensioners. Our fellow citizens in Scotland and Ireland will continue to enjoy free coach travel within their borders and our Welsh counterparts will retain the half-price concession.

Because of the projected enormous loss of custom the Government action has triggered, which could have resulted in the company going into administration, National Express has devised a discount scheme similar to that given to students, where a card is offered with an annual renewal charge of £10. This will still mean the fares will be much higher.

Any government that withdraws the meagre concessions to the blind, the elderly, the disabled and the handicapped, and selectively targets just one quarter of the ethnic population of the United Kingdom, is not fit for purpose. It is unfair, unjust, reprehensible and possibly illegal.

If, like me, you are a regular traveller to London by coach, you should purchase a 12-journey ticket from the Oxford Bus Company and the Oxford Tube before October 31. It will cost £36 from each company and will be valid for 12 months before it expires. This works out £6 for the return journey. Be quick, they will both be £69 from October 31.

JOHN MACKIE Chairman (OXPAG) Oxfordshire Pensioners’ Action Group