CAMPAIGNERS fighting for cheaper tube fares in the district have been left fuming following the revelation that the district council has lost £130,000 of Government funding for travel subsidies.

Pensioners have been fighting for more than a year to get the same rights as their counterparts in London who receive free travel on the underground, but Epping Forest District Council has repeatedly turned down their demands, claiming it cannot afford it.

But now it has emerged that a chunk of Government cash earmarked for subsidised travel next year – which the council planned to use only for cheaper bus fares - is to be slashed because of the authority's failure to spend enough of previous grants.

The news has prompted frustrated campaigners such as Ruth Montefiore, 59, of the Chigwell Park Estate, to question why the authority was not able to spend the surplus money on tube subsidies instead.

She said: “”I think there's a perception at the council that people in the district can afford to pay for tube travel, so it's not a priority. But that is not the case, there are a lot of retired people that struggle with their budgets and cannot afford to take the tube.

“We've seen how the council lost money from investing in Iceland, and now this – if it wasn't for these mistakes we could have had the free travel all along.”

Jill Spero, 67, of Green Lane in Chigwell, said: “I think it's disgraceful.

“It's really irritating when people a few streets away in Redbridge can travel for free when we can't.

“Even if the district council can't give us free tube travel, at the least you'd think they could spend some of the money on giving us cheaper or reduced fares.”

According to council documents, the Government had planned to give the district council a £250,000 grant for concessionary fares in the 2010/11 financial year, but have now decided to cut it by £130,000 following a review of the authority's spending.

Epping Forest District Council have yet to comment.

A council meeting to discuss the cut, scheduled for tonight (Monday December 21) has been postponed due to the snow.