Bus drivers on routes from Hampshire into Surrey have wrongly stopped on the county border to collect full fares from elderly passengers to continue on their journey, it has been claimed.

Pensioners have also been told to pay full fares on journeys that, with new free bus passes for over 60s, should be free, a council committee heard this week.

Stagecoach, the company that operates most of the scheduled bus services across the area, was criticised by councillors who said the company had deliberately tried to discourage pensioners from their entitlement for free bus travel — a charge denied by the company.

The “mistakes” by bus drivers on routes through Aldershot and Farnborough have been caused by complex variations in how free bus travel is administered, Rushmoor Borough Council’s (RBC’s) borough services panel was told on Monday.

Stagecoach’s boss told the News that the Blackwater Valley area was the worst in the south of England for bus operators to negotiate due to a complex minefield of varying rules, adding that he was surprised there had not been more complaints.

Under national rules, bus companies have to let pensioners carrying a concessionary bus pass travel free between 9.30am and 11pm, wherever they live and wherever they are going.

However, councils can opt to give extra benefits to people living in their areas.

As a result, pensioners and disabled people in Aldershot and Farnborough can travel anywhere, free of charge all day, as long as their journey starts within the boundaries of the district of Rushmoor.

However, those living in neighbouring Surrey Heath, Hart, Guildford and Waverley vary from one another.

The differences in rules has inevitably led to Stagecoach drivers making mistakes and charging passengers who are entitled to travel for free, the company admitted.

Andrew Dyer, managing director of Stagecoach South, said the system was a ‘dog’s dinner’.

“We can have a situation where a bus driver is operating in four or five districts in one day,” he said. “With such a dog’s dinner of complicated schemes, despite everyone’s best efforts, they will continue to make mistakes.”

Mr Dyer said that the company was working to cut out mistakes but admitted that such problems were “embarrassing”.

The company is currently pursuing a High Court action against the Department for Transport for the way the bus operating companies are paid.

Heron Wood in Aldershot has one of the highest take-ups of the free bus pass scheme. Its Labour representative, Mike Roberts, slammed the “illegal” practices of Stagecoach.

“They shouldn’t be charging at the border,” he said. “As long as your journey starts in Rushmoor, you can go wherever you like.

“I have heard of somebody being charged on the bus to Guildford which has stopped at the border.”

Ian Harrison, head of RBC’s customer services, said that there had been some mistakes but that the council had a good relationship with Stagecoach and the company was keen to ease any teething problems.