SIX bus services in villages around Maidstone and Canterbury are to be axed despite an offer by Kent County Council to pay more to keep them going.

Royal Mail has decided it will no longer support six of nine "post buses" that run in isolated rural areas because too few people use them and they cost too much.

Three of the buses are in Maidstone and three in Canterbury. The post buses collect mail from post boxes and ferry people from isolated areas in and out of towns but all six will cease running on September 1.

The services facing the axe in Maidstone are the 330, which serves Hartlip and Stockbury; the 331, which serves Lenham, Lenham Heath and Platts Heath and the 332, which serves Coxheath, Loose and Stocketts Lane. In Canterbury, services 301, 302 and 303 will end.

Royal Mail originally planned to axe all nine services but relented on three following urgent talks with the county council.

In a statement, a Royal Mail spokesman said: "The increasing cost to the business of providing these routes is no longer sustainable, particularly following the onset of full competition in the postal market.

The services are only used by a very small number of people and the cost of providing these six routes is nearly ten times the council subsidy which amounts to £24,500."

The statement added three other existing routes would continue even though these also run at a significant loss. These are the 300, serving Sittingbourne, Wormshill, Frinstead, Milstead and Highstead and two in Gravesham.

KCC said it had sought to save the services. Cabinet member for transport, Cllr Keith Ferrin, said "Most of the passengers are pensioners and I offered to increase the Kent post bus subsidy from £37,000 to £50,000 in an effort to keep all the services going but Royal Mail would not agree.

"We have saved three, somewhat against the odds, and people in those areas must ensure they use the service in order to fight the risk of Royal Mail withdrawing them in future."