Fears have been raised that transport subsidy cuts of up to £15 a month could stop families being able to send their children to faith schools.

Lancashire County Council (LCC) is consulting on scrapping ‘discretionary support’ subsidies for pupils who attend a faith school which is not the nearest school to their home, from September 2016.

Under the plans pupils who use the service, as well as children starting school in September, will no longer receive any assistance from this date unless they are from “low income” families.

Xavier Bowers, headteacher of Mount Carmel RC High in Accrington, said, if implemented, the cuts would affect schools like Mount Carmel “significantly”.

He said: “I think there will be lots of families who want to come to our school but won’t be able to afford it. We are currently subsidising our buses by 50 per cent to try and soften the blow for families but even that won’t be enough.

“I’m not optimistic that the consultation will alter the decision, but I don’t think they are being deliberately discriminatory against faith schools.”

Parents are currently required to make a contribution to the cost of the transport – £505 per pupil.

LCC says it is one of the last councils in the country to subsidise denominational school transport, which councils do not have to legally provide. They say that, with the removal of subsidies the parental contribution will increase to £540 for journeys of 3-8 miles, and to £692 for over 8 miles.

Oswaldtwistle councillor Peter Britcliffe said: “When this county council decide to consult then it’s time to start worrying because what it generally ends in is LCC ending that service.”

County Coun Matthew Tomlinson, cabinet member for schools, said: “Unfortunately we’ve had no choice but to propose cutting a number of services that people value, because the council simply can’t afford to deliver them anymore. We are in the position of having to take these difficult decisions.”

LCC says that the discretionary support costs them £1.1m per year, out of its £8m school transport budget.

The consultation runs until Sunday, April 10. People can have their say via www.snapsurveys.com/wh/s.asp?k=145442626666 . Alternatively write to: Denominational Transport Consultation, Pupil Access Team, PO Box 61, County Hall, Preston PR1 8RJ.