Department for Transport

More than £900 million was spent on bus travel for pensioners and disabled people in the past year, the Department of Transport has revealed.

Transport Minister Stephen Hammond revealed that local authorities had paid £906 million towards bus travel in a Parliamentary written answer to Tory MP Therese Coffey.

The figure, which included both statutory obligations and discretionary schemes run by councils, was paid to bus companies by local authorities during the 2012/13 financial year.

David Cameron pledged to protect pensioner benefits at the last general election, including the free bus pass, but last month social mobility advisor Alan Milburn, the former Labour health secretary, suggested it should be reviewed again.

A total of 290 people were killed in drink-drive accidents in 2012 - an increase of around 25 percent on the 2011 total, provisional figures from the Department for Transport showed today.

The father of a girl who died at a level crossing said that work being carried out to make crossings safer is "encouraging".

Speaking to Daybreak Chris Bazlington said: "Network Rail still I don't think are there yet, they're doing a lot more than they were before, and that's encouraging.

He added; "These stories which keep coming out are worrying."

A Network Rail spokesperson has responded to calls for an inquiry into the way danger is assessed at level crossings.