As oil prices slump the leader of Medway Ukip is calling for a cut in bus fares.

Cllr Chris Irvine will present a motion to full council on Thursday calling on Arriva Buses and others to cut ticket prices.

With the cost of crude oil set to hit a six-year low, Cllr Irvine, the only elected member of the party on Medway Council, said: “Like most energy providers, transport companies don’t waste any time in passing on wholesale fuel costs to their customers.

"With prices falling, it is only right that any savings made by these companies should be passed on to residents through lower travel costs.

“Every resident in Medway should benefit from the fall in fuel prices. I hope that our motion will enjoy cross-party support.”

Mark Reckless, Ukip MP for Rochester and Strood, added: “To get Medway moving, we not only require a root and branch review of local transport infrastructure but we need to encourage more people to get out of their cars and onto affordable public transport.”

Passenger Marc Hurstfield said: "Prices of petrol and diesel at the pumps have fallen, but bus fares haven't, have they?

"Surely diesel must be one of their biggest costs. Arriva put its fares up by around 5% in June at a time when inflation generally was running at 1.5%. If fares can go up, why can't they go down?"

Responding to a tweet, bus firm Arriva stated: “There are other factors that influence the price of our bus fares, not just the fuel prices.”

In a further statement, Arriva’s Regional Publicity Manager, Richard Lewis, said the company buys its fuel at fixed costs in advance, which "negates any short-term cost rises or reductions that motorists see at the pumps, but does not take away the impact of year on year price rises."

He added: "We do however, remain committed to value-for-money bus travel and, where possible, will avoid fare increases unless they are absolutely necessary. In particular, our range of unlimited-use Day and Weekly tickets continue to offer regular travellers significant savings on standard single fares.”

Meanwhile, drivers in Medway were cashing in on the continued drop in prices with supermarket leading the drive down.

Tesco Extra in Courteney Road, Gillingham; Morrisons in Princes Avenue and Sainsbury’s at Hempstead Valley are level pegging to give the best prices at the pumps.
Unleaded petrol is available to motorists at just 105.9p a litre, 4p lower than the average for forecourts across Medway.

The Esso Rss Britannia station in High Street, Rainham, is also offering the lowest price, meaning it’s a four-horse race to attract drivers hunting for a bargain.
The results were revealed on the PetrolPrices.com website which compares fuel prices at garages across the UK.

Motorists are finding it cheaper at the pumps as the value of oil continues to fall.
The AA’s petrol expert Luke Bosdet said: “You do find very competitive petrol prices east of London.

“It’s a dog fight that benefits drivers who are happy to drive around for the best prices.
“But there is still a way to go for prices to fall below £1, even at the cheapest petrol stations.

“The ones that are have their margins right down to the bone. To see more petrol stations do the same there would need to be a $6 drop in the price of a barrel of oil.”