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A DEAL has been reached between Oxford City Council and bus companies over the costs of the free bus fare scheme for pensioners.

The long-running dispute had cast a shadow over the city council's finances. At the heart of the disagreement was the fact that neither the city council nor Oxford's two major bus operators - Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach - could agree on the amount free travel actually costs.

But the incoming Labour administration at the Town Hall has announced that the issue has been settled - although no figures for the financial arrangement are being released.

People over 60 are now entitled to free 'local' bus travel anywhere in the country, with local authorities at the point of origin picking up the bill.

The Oxford dispute, however, dates from last year - before the Government made the scheme a nationwide one - when free travel for OAPs was initially available just within individual local authority areas.

Bus operators claimed the amount of money the Town Hall offered companies in compensation was not enough. The companies had lodged an appeal with the Department for Transport on the reimbursement proposals the council had put forward, leaving the city council uncertain as to the likely cost.

6:25am Friday 9th May 2008

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