A LACK of evening buses is putting people off applying for night-time college courses, a councillor has claimed.

Cllr Lynn Gibbon, Conservative Cheshire West and Chester Council member for Marbury, told a meeting on Thursday that she had been trying to help a Rudheath resident who was looking to enrol on an evening course at Warrington and Vale Royal College’s campus in Winsford.

But because the last 29 bus from Winsford to Northwich leaves by 8pm, she told CWAC’s district advisory panel that residents on evening courses would struggle to get back home.

Cllr Gibbon said: “If you’re starting a course at 6.30pm and it’s three hours, they might be able to get there but they won’t be able to get back.”

Kirsty Littler, transport manager at CWAC, told Cllr Gibbon that the council has ‘regular conversations’ with bus operators, and it would have to prove that any new bus routes are commercially viable.

But Cllr Gibbon suggested this could be difficult to resolve.

“The problem is you won’t know what the viability is because the actual bus times are putting people off joining the course because they won’t be able to get back,” she added.

“Until it was put on, and you saw how many people apply for the courses, you won’t know whether it is viable.”

Cllr Brian Clarke, Labour member for Winsford Wharton, told the panel that students who are struggling to find suitable transport arrangements can contact the college for advice.