POOLE'S temporary park-and-ride scheme is losing £600 a day even during its busiest times, it has been revealed.

The latest set of figures for people using the Creekmoor scheme show that the best daily attendance was 262 passenger journeys on a Saturday and the worst was just 79 on a Monday.

Many Wilts and Dorset buses are facing long waits for passengers before eventually leaving with just one or two passengers on board.

Conservative Cllr Ron Parker, cabinet member with responsibility for transport, is concerned about the low usage of the site compared to its high running costs.

He said the service is costing around £1,000 a day to run and yet is only taking £400 on its busiest days.

"When we took this over, the Liberal Democrats had signed up for a permanent scheme with a totally inadequate budget," he said.

"We've committed to running the park and ride for five weeks. But we've got to monitor spending carefully and the fact that we are losing £600 even on our best day is very sobering.

"The Liberal Democrats seem to think we can spend money like water. But we're very concerned at the amounts this is costing."

But Liberal Democrat Cllr Tony Trent said the park and ride would be more successful if it was promoted more effectively.

"The charges need to be lowered. Every town of any significance has got a park and ride scheme. It's an essential part of traffic management."