EAST Lancashire is subsidising the rest of the county over a free bus pass scheme, according to Labour councillors.

The group claims districts including Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn and Pendle are set to hand over hundreds of thousands of pounds to cover losses racked up by the likes of Blackpool and Lancaster.

Opposing council leaders have accused Labour members of making “idiotic comments”.

But the Labour county councillor in charge of administering the scheme across the county said it was a “key part” that each council shared their resources.

The concessionary fares scheme gives over 60s free bus travel after 9.30am.

Each district has been given government cash to cover the costs of the project.

It is believed popular travel destinations like Blackpool, Preston and Lancaster are struggling because they have to pay for the return journeys of the large number of visitors they attract.

Labour councillors claims cash given to some East Lancashire boroughs is being sent to these councils to offset their losses.

Last month Blackburn Conservative councillor Alan Cottam stirred controversy when he claimed some elderly people were “abusing” the privilege and leaving him with a £400,000 black hole.

But now the East Lancashire Labour Leaders group claims to have uncovered figures that show town halls in the area are in fact making a surplus from the funding.

Blackburn with Darwen Labour group leader Kate Hollern said: “We have Tories criticising older residents for abusing the system and putting a burden on the tax payers, and all the time they are giving money meant for the residents of the borough to other authorities."

Tory councillor Mike Lee, in charge of resources at Blackburn with Darwen, admitted West Lancashire was faring worse than east of the county in the mid-year figures, and one option put forward had been for all Lancashire councils to pool their resources to pay for the project.

But he claimed even East Lancashire authorities were being under-funded by the government and added: “It’s important we don’t get carried away with some of these idiotic comments.”

County councillor Matthew Tomlinson, cabinet member for sustainable development, said his Labour counterparts’ outburst was “bizarre”.

He said: “It’s all very well saying ‘we would have made a profit’ - but would they have made a profit if they had to organise their own back office and do their own negotiations?”