200,000 join fight for free bus travel for pensioners

The national Love the Bus Pass petition is being led by Walsall Pensioners' Convention.

It was launched after the Government started calling for the concessionary pass available to all pensioners across the country to be reviewed in 2011 which raised fears that it may be axed in the future.

The petition is expected to exceed 200,000 names by the time the last batch of signatures are delivered to 10 Downing Street next month.

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The group will use their bus passes to get to London and hope to be joined by scores of supporters there.

Organiser Richard Worrall, who is a Walsall councillor, has also written letters to 800 newspapers to drum up publicity for the trip.

He said: "We will be delivering the second and final batch of pen-on-paper signatures to Number 10 on March 11.

"The total will be somewhere over 200,000 by then and I particularly want to encourage Express & Star readers if they haven't already done so - like the thousands who have - to sign up and get more signatures in to swell the total.

"This will be their last chance to sign the petition.

"Anyone who wants to join us on the trip is most welcome and should get in touch. We'd like people who do come to arrange to meet when we get to Westminster and before we walk to Downing Street."

He said participants need to be able to travel from the West Midlands on March 10 and find the cost of an overnight stay.

The group will return from London by train the following day. Those not using their bus pass to get there are being urged to meet the team at Westminster.

"To date no political party has made a clear and unequivocal commitment to retaining the bus pass in its present form," Mr Worrall added.

"We simply must ensure all politicians understand that they attack the bus pass at their electoral peril." Mr Worrall said more than 170,000 signatures are on the petition at the moment but that thousands more are on the way.

The deadline for the receipt of signatures is March 7.

Petition forms are available from Walsall Pensioners' Convention secretary Andrea Stanton on 01922 448331 or 01922 641084.

Alternatively email richardvworrall@yahoo.com