A MAJOR overhaul of passenger transport services will see council vehicles used on some public bus routes.

Dorset County Council's fleet of buses and minibuses which usually take children to school and adults to day centres will be made available on some services.

It is part of a reorganisation which council chiefs insist will improve the way passenger transport is provided and combat reductions in commercial bus services.

People in Purbeck are the latest to become angry and upset because of threats to their local bus routes. Some Wilts & Dorset services have been withdrawn completely while others no longer connect with rail services.

The council has been doing some work behind the scenes to mitigate these losses but it will change its approach in the future. To prepare for this it has brought together passenger transport services into one integrated transport unit, which means it can provide co-ordinated bus services to people who need them most.

A county council spokesman said: "Dorset is taking matters one step further than other councils by modernising the way it buys in contracted services.

"It will also make more use of its own fleet of buses and minibuses. In future they will be used across a broader range of services, including on some public bus routes.

"It will enter into new partnership arrangements with bus companies to provide long-term commitments to provide services. This process is about to start and the new arrangements will be in place by 2009."

The combined value of all the council's passenger transport services is £17 million, making long-term contracts attractive propositions.

Transport spokesman for the cabinet Colonel Geoff Brierley said: "Wilts and Dorset's latest proposals would have disadvantaged some communities.

"We have been working with the bus company to mitigate the short-term effects as much as possible. We will continue to monitor the situation. In the longer term, we must provide the best possible public transport for local people. This is why we are reorganising the way we work."

Coun Brierley added: "We anticipate that we will be using our considerable buying power to ensure that we provide services which meet our own priorities and not necessarily those of bus companies."