Buses across the county are running several minutes' slower than 10 years ago-because of increased traffic.

The delays mean some services have been cut, Hampshire County Council was told.

The statistics were revealed as the council heard it faced a transport "crisis" unless it took radical action soon.

Stuart Linn, of Solent Blue Line, said all his buses in Southampton were running slower , some by up to nine minutes at peak times. "Services are becoming less frequent and it is congestion that is strangling them."

He added: "I cannot overestimate the problem of growing car use."

Mr Linn, MD of Solent Blue Line's parent company, Southern Vectis, said timetables had been changed to account for the delays and as a result some journeys have been cut.

He said he would need six new buses across the network to make up the lost journeys. That would cost £550,000 a year.

He was joined by the National Federation of Bus Users in demanding radical solutions to the growing problem of traffic congestion.

Mr Linn said: "There is a solution and it is easy-double petrol prices."

He admitted that the radical proposal was politically naive, but added: "It needs that sort of thinking if we are going to get back to where we need to be."

He also suggested that motorists could be charged for entering town centres, as is being planning in central London, and was recently introduced in Durham.

"It would be very difficult for car users to swallow, but carrying on as we are simply isn't an option."

Dr Caroline Cahm, chairman of the NFBU, told councillors: "You have a crisis on your hands and it isn't going to get any better."

She said the Government, with local authorities, had to prioritise buses over cars, especially in the urban areas of Winchester, Southampton and Eastleigh.

A spokesman for the AA said: "We are not in favour of road charges because Southern drivers already pay £2bn a year in Hampshire in various motoring taxes.

"Nationally, that is £40bn. What's needed is better investment in public transport. Better buses, better trains, more reliable services and better park and ride.

"Yes our roads are clogged. The reason is that there has been a lack of investment in roads and public transport."