Harlow Council could be being overcharged for pensioners' bus journeys using their bus passes, local Liberal Democrats can reveal.

Mark Hall councillors Lesley Rideout and Robert Thurston have been shown tickets given to local pensioners which show journeys considerably longer than those that have been taken.

A trip from The Stow to Old Harlow Post Office was shown as being from Harlow Bus Terminus to the Leventhorpe School in Sawbridgeworth. Another, from The Stow to the town centre, was recorded as being from The Phoenix pub at Bush Fair to the Pinnacles.

Because pensioners are entitled to free local bus travel their tickets do not include a price, but journey details are recorded so bus firms can claim the cost of the concessionary fare from Harlow Council.

The cost of bus travel to the council - which from 1 April will be extended to cover journeys anywhere in England - has been rising rapidly and uncontrollably, contributing to the council's cash problems.

The incorrect tickets were collected by four Mark Hall pensioners who contacted Liberal Democrat councillors Lesley Rideout and Robert Thurston. Robert Thurston says:

"We've just had to make quite a few staff redundant, largely because of the cost of funding bus travel. Now it looks like we've been paying well over the odds.

That extra money could have saved someone's job or helped us avoid a service reduction somewhere."

Pensioners receiving incorrect tickets are encouraged to send them to Cllr Lesley Rideout, with details of the actual journey undertaken.