BUS users in Boston have been reassured that the Into Town service is not at "immediate risk" of being scrapped despite expected cuts in the Government's public transport subsidies.

The Department for Transport has to take 25 to 40 per cent off its £15.9 billion budget sparking fears the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG), which rebates bus firms for the fuel duty they pay in running local registered services, could be scrapped.

Pro-public transport groups fear such a move will lead to services in rural parts of the country, such as Boston, being axed in a bus equivalent of the Beeching railway cuts in the 1960s.

However, Lincolnshire County Council has told the Target the Boston Into Town service is not under threat.

Public transport strategy and development manager Anita Ruffle said: "The Boston Into Town service continues to perform well and is on target for being commercially viable at the end of its contract life.

"While it is difficult to predict the severity of any future funding constraints, and therefore to give any categoric assurances, given its performance to date it is unlikely this service would be at immediate risk.

"Regular monitoring and liaison with the operator will determine the need for any future review of the service."

Despite this good news it remains unclear what affect cuts in subsidies could have on other bus services in the area particularly those on unprofitable routes outside the town.

Passenger Transport Executive Group chairman Neil Scales said: "Outside London the bus is the main form of public transport and is also relied upon the most by low-income households.

"Yet, despite this, levels of Government support are a very small proportion of those the rail industry receives and even these relatively modest BSOG subsidies are now under threat."

Stephen Joseph from the Campaign For Better Transport said: "Scrapping BSOG could do for Britain's buses today what Beeching did for the UK rail network in the 1960s."