SOLAR-powered bus shelters in Hartlebury, which light up in the dark, have been branded a "waste of money" by a parish councillor after evening services were reduced.

Two shelters have been installed along Old Worcester Road, costing around £7,000 each, but cutbacks made across Worcestershire introduced last Sunday mean they will no longer be used between 6.20pm and 7am, when the first bus arrives.

Councillor Patrick Kelly said: "I think it is pretty poor. It is wonderful technology but there's not going to be any buses. The last bus from Worcester leaves at 6.20pm and the last bus from Kidderminster leaves at around the same time so there's not going to be anybody using them at night."

Simon Whitehead, senior marketing communications officer for waste and passenger transport at Worcestershire County Council, said the shelters, at £7,000, cost £1,500 more than the normal ones but, unlike those, they did not need to be connected to the National Grid, which cost an additional £1,000.

He added they "offered excellent value for money", as they did not require electricity and were environmentally friendly.

Money for the shelters came from the Government's Bus Challenge initiative and they were installed in January, when solar panels were also added to an older shelter in the road.

Andy Baker, the county council's passenger transport operations manager, said: "The solar-powered bus shelters in Hartlebury provide an excellent service to bus users during the winter months.

"Although they are not currently utilising their night time potential, it is not to say that they will not prove to be a real asset in the future."