A BUS giant that came under fire from St Helens Council for the price of its fares has decided to permanently introduce a £15 regional weekly ticket.

Arriva Merseyside, the main bus operator in St Helens, agreed the move after a successful summer trial. A weekly child ticket is also available at £10.

The tickets can be used across Merseyside and their introduction comes six months after councillors criticised Arriva for rising fares and not advertising discounted rates widely enough.

Previously passengers in St Helens would have had to buy a North West Saver priced at £19, but the Merseyside only ticket is £4 cheaper.

In April local politicians rounded on the Arriva after its minimum fare rose from £2 to £2.10.

The highest rate for a single journey is £3.20.

They voiced fears that workers on nil hours contracts – often called into work to do several hours a day at peak times – are seeing large chunks of their wages eroded by travel costs.

There were also concerns that some children are not attending school towards the end of the week because family budgets are running dry.