Liverpool City Council will later this week (18th October) hear a call for bus services in Merseyside to be re regulated so that routes can be planned to make sure local people don't lose out.

The call comes in a motion by Councillor Richard Marbrow, who says that the 20 years of de regulation has failed the City badly.

Despite work to try to improve bus services, Merseytravel and the local council's simply do not have the power to make sure private operators meet the needs of every community. And that means people in poorer and more isolated parts of the area lose out.

Liverpool Liberal Democrats want the Council to agree to work with organisations like Merseytravel to undo 20 years of the de regulation experiment - which was introduced by the Tory government in October 1986.

Supporting the call, Garston Lib Dem spokesperson Paula Keaveney said:

"The failure of de regulation is illustrated quite starkly by communities like Speke. Here most people don't have cars, and there is no train link. So buses are particularly important. But changes to services have left parts of Speke more and more cut off. Re regulation would mean those controlling routes could make absolutely sure areas weren't cut off like this"