Bus drivers may lose their jobs

Some fares on Reading Buses will also go up in the autumn

Reading Buses has said it may have to make some of its drivers redundant after a dramatic drop in the number of fare-paying passengers.

Takings are down by £100,000 a month - a 14% drop, the firm said.

Bosses said the decline is due to the economic downturn and the revenue from fares is expected to drop further.

Up to 25 driving jobs are threatened as part of a recovery plan, which also includes cutting services over the summer and putting up fares in October.

To save money, Reading Buses said it would make some changes in September and warned that "this may result in a small number of redundancies amongst driving staff".

"Though it is too early to judge whether this will in fact be necessary," it added.

The bus firm is also set to increase all-day and weekly ticket fares from 1 October.

During the summer it will run a reduced number of services while offering a new 10-trip discount card to attract more passengers.

'Short-term issue'

James Freeman, chief executive officer of Reading Buses, said: "The present extremely adverse position only became clear about eight weeks ago.

"We are not alone, as many other bus companies across the country are facing similar, if not worse, problems.

"The number of buses we run has to go up and down according to demand.

"It is our intention that by acting decisively and quickly over the next four months we can restore the performance of [Reading Buses] before the next financial year which starts on 1 October.

"Although this is a serious challenge, it is not so much a long-term problem, as a short-term issue that we must tackle straightaway."