FEWER people than ever are using buses to get around the county, according to new figures showing the decade's steepest drop in passenger journeys.

The new data comes amid ongoing anger over cuts to bus services which campaigners claim have left many Dorset residents isolated or dependent on private vehicles, especially in the county's rural districts and outlying villages.

According to the Department for Transport's latest figures, total passenger journeys by bus in Dorset dropped from 10 million in 2015-2016 to 8.7 million in 2016-2017; this represents a drop of close to a quarter from the decade's peak of 11.1 million passenger journeys in 2010-2011.

Annual passenger journeys per head of the county's population, meanwhile, fell from 23.8 in 2015-2016 to 20.6 the following year, again the most dramatic drop in recent years, and a reduction of more than a quarter from the high point of 27 journeys per head of population in 2010-2011.

The perceived lack of bus services in Dorset - especially in rural areas - is a long-standing bone of contention between residents and the county council and primary service-provider First Bus Wessex. Most recently, the number 5 service between Weymouth and Crossways and the X52 between Lyme Regis and Exeter were scrapped by First at the beginning of the year, while other services have been reduced in frequency, including the 10 from Weymouth to Dorchester and Poundbury. This year's winter timetable saw significant reductions in services, including in the suburbs of Weymouth, and numerous sizeable villages are now served by no regular bus service at all.

Philip Sankey of the Western Area Transport Action Group (WATAG) blamed the reduction in services for the drop in journeys.

"What has been reduced quite substantially is bus mileage," said Mr Sankey, of Lyme Regis. "If the buses aren't there, people can't use them. And we don't know, but we can guess, that this leads to journeys being transferred to personal vehicles, and also to greater social isolation in rural areas."

He called on residents to use existing services in order to boost their viability, and also pointed to community transport schemes as a potential solution in areas deprived of regular services. "I just hope that these figures don't show that we're entering a downward spiral," he added.

Councillor Daryl Turner, spokesman for natural and built environment at the county council, insisted that the decline in bus journeys was nationwide, and down to 'many and varied' factors.

"The county council remains committed to supporting communities to find solutions for local residents’ transport needs," said Cllr Turner. "By working with communities and travel operators, we can identify and influence where help is needed most to support our most vulnerable residents and the Dorset economy.”

The Dorset Echo has contacted First Bus Wessex for comment.