A council is to scrap the £5 charge it makes to issue cards which allow elderly and disabled people cheap bus fares.

The administrative charge will be removed from April 1 by the district council at Chichester which is two months earlier than required by new Government legislation.

Councillors have been told that a potential 28,000 people living in the district qualify for the card which would cost taxpayers £655,000.

But experts say that the more likely cost is around £86,000 based on an expected maximum of 5,000 applications for bus passes.

Councils have been ordered by the Government to introduce free concessionary transport schemes by June 1.

But the current £5 charge will be axed two months earlier at Chichester because officials say it will cause less confusion to people who use the existing cheap fares scheme. Many are due to renew their passes in April.

A report says that councils will receive extra Government grants towards the cost of issuing bus passes with early estimates predicting that Chichester will receive £74,000.