I was a bit taken aback when I read the comments of Don Jones of CAMRA in last week’s My Word column. Sadly he is so far of the mark that not only is he talking ‘balderdash’ but it is inaccurate balderdash.

Let me quote from John Thomson, Wiltshire Council Deputy Leader and Cabinet member for Highways. Mr Thomson wrote to me in October 2013 giving me additional information on the way Wiltshire buses were funded by Wiltshire Council.

I was particularly interested in services 55/55A and 31 which operate through Royal Wootton Bassett. There is no reason to doubt that the same rules apply across Wiltshire.

Mr Thomson wrote: “Services 55/55A are operated on a commercial basis during weekday daytimes, but the evening and Sunday services are run under contract to the council. The whole of service 31 is operated under contract to the council.

“None of the contracts has any clauses linking payments to passenger miles or passengers carried. However, as the contracts have been awarded on a ‘minimum subsidy’ basis (ie, the operator keeps the revenue from fares, with the council paying a fixed price per month), the price the operator tendered for the contracts will have been based on his best estimates of passenger use and the operator has an incentive to ‘grow the market’.

“The budget spend on supported bus services of £4.218 million in 2013/14 compares with £4.467 million in 2012/13.”

What does this mean? For a start Wiltshire Council has reduced the bus support this year by about £250,000, which will make a considerable contribution to the increases paid to the politicians who make the decisions.

Second, the very limited number of senior bus pass holders who use the service before 9.30am are insignificant and to remove this small privilege would have virtually no effect on other services provided by Wiltshire Council.

Any pensioner or disabled person who uses a bus pass to get to work should be applauded, they are contributing to the economy and deserve a little help. They are also more likely to be on the minimum wage.

Mr Jones should understand that even some pensioner bus pass holders are paying customers. We pay council tax and, if we were prudent enough to plan for a decent pension, still pay income tax. This is what pays for the bus pass subsidy, not the fare-paying travellers.

I hope Mr Jones knows more about beer than he does about the way bus services are funded.

Allan Collins, Lindisfarne, Royal Wootton Bassett.