CAMPAIGNERS say Leeds is being shortchanged by its night bus services.
Transport giant First axed two night buses – the 921 Leeds-Swillington and 928 Leeds-Otley services – at the end of last month.
The move left the city with just two regular night bus routes, both of which cater for the large student population in
Headingley.
By contrast, Manchester has buses running on nearly 20 routes between midnight and 3am for revellers who have been out on Friday and Saturday.
The buses, some of which are publicly subsidised, serve outlying areas of the city as well as neighbouring towns such as Oldham, Stockport and Bury.
Wigan, meanwhile, even has its own system of eight night bus routes.
Criticism of the situation in Leeds was led by Wetherby-based public transport enthusiast Paul Kirby.
He said: "There is a safety issue here. Not everyone can afford a taxi home, so people are tempted to take lifts from strangers or walk."
Mr Kirby added that, as recently as 1997, Leeds's suburbs and nearby towns were served by seven night bus routes.
Coun Judith Blake, deputy leader of Leeds City Council's opposition Labour group, also criticised First over the withdrawal of the 921 and 928 services.
The firm says the decision was down to low customer numbers and the weak state of the economy.
But Coun Blake said: "When you consider how big a city Leeds is and how we are supposed to be encouraging the use of public transport, I find it unbelievable that these buses are no longer operating."
Metro, the publicly-funded body that co-ordinates bus travel in West Yorkshire, agreed the decline in the number of night buses was "regretful". It also said, though, that it had to seek value for money and take account of social needs when deciding whether to support commercial services that would otherwise be withdrawn.
A spokesman said: "It would be hard to place the needs of clubbers returning home late at night above those of early morning workers, senior citizens going shopping or children going to school."
Many in Leeds feel the city gets a raw deal on public transport, a belief cemented by the Government's cancellation of its Supertram plans in 2005, 13 years after Manchester's Metrolink light rail system opened.
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