THE campaign to safeguard free Hampshire bus travel for the elderly was today heading to London.

Delegates from the county's pensioners' forums are due to lobby MPs in Westminster and galvanise support from other groups for the fight to save countywide travel.

The National Pensioners' Lobby, which will see the elderly from across the country converge on Parliament, is pushing for an increase to pensions, which should then be linked to earnings.

But members of Southampton Pensioners' Forum and Eastleigh Southern Parishes Older People's Forum will also be armed with copies of the Daily Echo petition urging the government to ensure free countywide travel remains in place.

Several bus operators in Hampshire, including Stagecoach, First and Wilts & Dorset, have lodged an appeal with the Department for Transport, saying they want more cash for carrying pensioners who use bus passes.

Similar challenges have been made by companies in 18 other counties across England.

Fears have been raised that the government scheme to introduce free nationwide travel for over-60s from 2008 could be in jeopardy if operators succeed in forcing local councils to pay for every trip pensioners make.

Don Harper, secretary of Southampton Pensioners' Forum, is taking the Daily Echo petition to the national lobby because he believes victory for the operators would be bad for pensioners everywhere.

He also said their defeat would be a boost for his group's calls for a better deal for city residents, who do not enjoy the same benefits of countywide travel as most others in Hampshire.

Instead, Southampton City Council opted only to provide free off-peak travel within the city boundaries, which is the minimum allowed under the government scheme introduced in April.

"I'm hoping the bus companies don't win," said Mr Harper, of Montague Close, Southampton.

"They are after all they can get because, when you look at some of the comments some of them have made, then it's a bit silly.

"If the bus companies get away with it, it could well have a big effect on the 2008 legislation. If they don't win we might be able to use it as a lever to get a better system in Southampton.

"Councillor Jill Baston Cabinet member for environment and transport has always said we can't follow Hampshire's scheme because of the legal difficulties it is under, but if the legal challenge fails that's her argument gone."

You can download a copy of our petition by clicking here to download and print our special SAVE OUR FREE HAMPSHIRE BUS PASSES petition, get your friends and neighbours to sign it and post it back to Jon Reeve, Southern Daily Echo, Newspaper House, Test Lane, Redbridge, Southampton SO16 9JX.