A BUS users’ campaign group claims an average of just four people an hour are using Colchester’s Park and Ride during its extended evening service.

Essex County Council extended operating hours for a 12-month trial period last July and said it would review usage in early 2019.

The hours were changed so buses run from 5.30am to 9.30pm weekdays and 7am to 7pm Saturdays.

Previously, buses ran from 7am to 7pm.

Campaigners from C-Bus counted how many people caught the Park and Ride bus from North Station over three evenings in February, from 4pm to 9pm.

They claim just 20 people were boarding the bus each evening in that time.

C-Bus secretary Peter Kay said: “I have to say I was expecting a good few more, especially as the charge at the station car park was put up by 11 per cent on January 1.

“In this case I would regard it as a reasonable experiment for Essex County Council to have tried.

“But it turns out to just be a further proof that Colchester people won’t use Park and Ride unless they get it for free.

“It was daft to add to the cost by having the extra two hours of buses running to and from the town centre, given that it was well known that usage from town from 6pm to 7pm was very low, so it would hardly be more after that.”

Mr Kay said last summer the council pledged to review usage numbers six months into the trial and would then make a decision on whether to continue it after July 2019.

He said: “I assume that they have done the examining but surprise, surprise, not a word has been said about it and it is now already too late to submit a new registration to revert to the old hours.”

After the service was launched in April 2015, hours were extended after criticism it was not flexible enough for London commuters to get to the station or for Colchester Hospital shift workers.

An Essex County Council spokesman said: “Colchester Park and Ride service has been running for just over four years.

“At the end of July 2018 the opening hours were extended at no extra cost to Essex County Council, as this extension was already included in the forecast budget for the scheme.

“This has proved popular with commuters and visitors alike and there were 251,598 passenger journeys on Colchester Park and Ride in 2018/19 which is an increase of 28 per cent from the previous year.”

The Gazette had specifically asked the council if it recorded usage for the extended hours and what were its own findings.

However it did not answer this.