FREE bus travel for Lancashire’s pensioners is costing £25million a year, it has been revealed.

Around the same number of free trips were made last year, working out at about £1 for each journey.

But the free bus passes are set to be phased out for some pensioners as the government will begin to increase the minimum age for the benefit from April.

The figures appear in a review of the concessionary fares scheme to be presented to councillors this week.

It also reveals the free passes are most popular in Rossendale, where 85 per cent of pensioners have signed up to the scheme.

Yesterday Tory highways chief Tim Ashton, who has admitted he would not ‘fight tooth and nail’ to keep the perk when budgets were cut, said: “I think we will keep it, but everything has to be looked at.”

Under the concessionary fares scheme, the government gives grants to each district aimed at covering the cost of free bus trips that set off in each area.

In Lancashire this sparked furious rows after it was revealed areas where the scheme was in surplus, including most of East Lancashire, were giving up their grants to make up for the shortfall in other areas, including Preston, Lancaster and Blackpool.

This is no longer the case, the report reveals, because lobbying to central government has secured an extra £3.5million.

Another fallout came when the Department for Transport was also called to rule on a disagreement between the councils and the bus companies on how much the operators should be reimbursed.

The coalition government’s proposed changes have been highly controversial, with David Cameron accused of going back on his pledge during the televised debates that Labour claims of cuts to free bus travel.

Pensioners’ passes, known as ‘Nowcards’, entitle them to free bus travel anywhere in the country between 9.30am and 11pm on weekdays, and all day at weekends.