PRICES for some season tickets for bus journeys in Oxford are set to rise by up to 12.5 per cent.

Bus company bosses say rising fuel costs was a key reason for the rise, set to come into effect on Sunday, April 1.

The four-week SmartZone ticket – which covers the Oxford area – will rise from £40 to £45, an increase of 12.5 per cent, while the 13-week SmartZone ticket goes from £115 to £120, a 4.3 per cent increase.

However, the price of the one-week SmartZone remains the same at £15, along with the ‘any five days’ SmartZone.

The £10m joint ticketing scheme was introduced last year on Oxford Bus Company, Stagecoach and Thames Travel buses.

In a joint statement, the SmartZone operators said: “No one likes to pay more but the cost of running buses has risen dramatically — fuel prices and other costs have risen.”

Bus Users UK’s Oxford spokesman Hugh Jaeger said: “Bus companies have to make these commercial decisions.

“Even with these increases the SmartZone tickets are still a good deal.”