Senior citizens entitled to a free bus pass should be allowed to pay for the privilege if they can afford it, Surrey County Council leader has suggested.

Cllr David Hodge wants to introduce the option to help make savings on the bus passes, which cost the council about £4 million a year.

He produced his own bus pass at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, June 26, as he spoke of his idea.

Addressing cabinet members while holding the pass he said: “I actually do think that people who can afford to pay a three-yearly charge of about £80 for this pass should be allowed to introduce this at a local level.

“I say that because it’s really important that we protect rural bus services. As finances get tighter and tighter, it’s always the ones out in the country that may see their service disappear.

“I personally would never like to see a service disappear and I think it’s a small price to pay.”

He then showed his senior citizen rail card that he paid £80 for adding: “Why can’t I be able to pay the county council £80 for one of these?

“I would suggest that the majority of people my age in Surrey can afford to pay for one of these.

“But we should also have a system that protects those who can’t afford them.”

Residents must be over the pensionable age of a woman in order to qualify for a free bus pass. At the moment that is 65, but the State Pension age will increase to 67 between 2034 and 2036; and 68 between 2044 and 2046.

The comments came as members voted through a re-tendering for the contracts of the bus services across the county.

Also commenting on how buses could be better used in the county was Cllr Mary Lewis, who urged parents with children at secondary schools to encourage them to use the bus and not drop them off in the car.

Cllr Lewis, who is deputy chairman of Cobham Community Bus Community Interest Company, which runs the Chatterbus C1 and C2 bus service around the Cobham area, said: “ The more we all use them the more sustainable they are.”

She added: “Of course buses are really important for developing independence in young people.

“We have a lot of parents taking their secondary age children to school causing parking problems and really secondary education is about preparation for adulthood, work and all those other things and these children should be on buses or trains or walking.”