PEOPLE living in East Cleveland are being urged to use taxis rather than buses.

A councillor says it is cheaper and more convenient for a family to take a cab.

And he predicts that if fare rises keep outstripping cost of living increases, bus firms will price themselves out of the market.

The broadside came from Coun Norman Davies after Redcar and Cleveland council executive heard bus fares had gone up by 33pc since 1996.

This compared with a 15pc rise in retail prices.

Coun Davies said the main problem was lack of competition.

And he said: "I would urge people in my ward to use a taxi rather than go by bus. It is cheaper and more convenient.

"They put fares up and get fewer people using the services and the whole thing spirals. In five or six years they will have priced themselves out of the market with taxis."

Coun Davies said for a family of four to go from his Kirkleatham ward to Redcar would cost more than £4.

"Prices are getting beyond what they should be in some areas," he said. "This is hitting the most vulnerable people in society.

"To take your children into the countryside would cost God knows what and this is putting people off."

He said bus firms should work more closely with the council as the authority had a major input through concessionary fares.

Coun Keith Pudney said: "I have some sympathy with the bus firms as there are five different concessionary fare schemes operating in the Tees Valley.

"We need one scheme for the whole area and then there could be more flexibility. The present situation is farcical."

He said the only way to have a sensible transport operation was to set up a local passenger transport authority. We should press for that at every turn," he said.

Chairman Coun David Walsh said: "Increases of this kind are incompatible with government aims." He said a letter should be sent from the council to ministers and copied to local MPs to say a PTA would be a step forward.

He said: "Hardly any buses east of Acklam Road are run by firms other than Arriva and to the west it is mainly Stagecoach. The people suffering from that situation are the passengers.

"Fare increases are concentrated on areas where there is a captive market because of the long distances to be travelled, such as East Cleveland."

Coun Ian Jeffrey said: "The long-term unemployed need public transport to get to training and jobs and we should make that point to ministers."

Development director Dr Joan Rees said bus operators accepted that putting up fares drove away some passengers.

"This is why their increases are generally above the rate of inflation," she said.

Arriva North East marketing manager Mike Barber said Coun Davies' claims were not a true comparison. He said the firm had introduced a series of discounted return and family tickets and these had offset rises in the basic single fare.

He dismissed talk of buses being priced out of the market. "There will always be a place for buses, but we have to remain competitive.

"The level of service has been maintained for some years and we continue to review what we provide. We will increase frequencies and amend routes to respond to changing situations.