COLCHESTER’S Park and Ride buses will continue to be free for the foreseeable future, officials say.

The news comes as Essex County Council again refused to tell the Gazette how many people have used the park and ride centre since it opened on Monday, April 13.

Yesterday County Hall told us passenger figures would not be released until after the free trial period was over. Asked when the trial would end, a County Hall spokesman said the end date had yet to be decided.

Later, the Gazette rode out to Cuckoo Farm on the park and ride bus , to talk to passengers about the scheme, which cost £6million to set up, and is costing about £600,000 a year to run.

Brendan Povey, from Ipswich, had ridden into town with his wife, Sharon.

Mr Povey said he had used the bus because it was free.

He added: “My wife will tell you I don’t turn down a freebie, so we thought we’d use it today.

“I’m not sure if I would use it if we had to pay, as £6 seems like quite a lot for the two of us. Saying that, it was quite easy to get into town.”

Steve Black, 48, from Chelmsford, also rode the bus in from the park and ride centre to meet a friend for lunch – his first such trip.

He said: “I knew I was going to be in town for a few hours, so I thought rather than pay to park, I’d take the park and ride bus.

“Would I use it if I had to pay £3? I really don’t know.

“To be honest, it is very attractive, but for me that’s because it’s free.”

Andrew Sayers, 70, who lives near Boxted, said he loved the new service.

He said: “It’s great. I don’t have to drive the whole way into town and it’s quite regular.

“I do wonder what it's like during the peak, though, for workers because I’m only ever on it after 9am.”

When the service was launched, County Hall originally said it would only be free for the first two weeks, before extending this to a month.

A journey into Colchester town centre yesterday afternoon took 11 minutes – and the Gazette’s reporter was the only passenger on the bus for the whole trip.

On the 20-minute ride back to Cuckoo Farm, however, the bus service was more popular, although seven of the 13 passengers admitted they had concessionary passes, so wouldn’t have been paying even if free trial had ended.

About 100 of the 1,000 spaces in the centre’s car park were full including by scheme workers’ cars.

In February, Paul Bird, Essex County Council’s transport and infrastructure director told the Gazette the service was likely to run at a loss for as long as three years, adding: “We are doing this to improve the town centre – the town overall will benefit.”