Next stop . . free bus travel across the UK for pensioners

Transport and Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander expects to be able to include the agreement - which would allow pensioners to travel as far afield as Cornwall and Anglesey from next spring - in a government Bill currently going through Westminster.

The change would be made before the Holyrood elections in May, allowing Labour to trumpet the benefit before Scotland goes to the polls.

A free travel scheme is due to be introduced in England from April 1 next year, which would work along the same lines as the ones currently operating in Scotland and Wales.

A draft clause for "mutual recognition" of the two schemes has been drawn up, while officials hammer out the technical and financial details.

Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman revealed the talks were taking place after Edinburgh North and Leith MP Mark Lazarowicz raised the issue with him.

Spokeswomen for both the Department of Transport in London and the Scottish Executive in Edinburgh said talks were in place and expectations of a deal were high.

Mr Alexander - MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South who is one of the key figures running Labour's Holyrood election campaign - hopes to unveil details in the House of Commons shortly.

The English scheme was only announced by Chancellor Gordon Brown in last year's Budget following fierce rows between councils south of the Border over extending the concession across local authority borders.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Transport said: "There have been talks on this. We hope to introduce a clause creating a cross-border scheme in the Concessionary Bus Travel Bill currently in the House of Lords when it comes before the Commons."

A spokeswoman for Scottish Transport Minister Tavish Scott said: "Talks have taken place. Creating either a compatible scheme or a UK-wide scheme so that pensioners could travel free across the Border is a sensible move. Both Mr Scott and Mr Alexander are hopeful of a deal to bring this about."

Mr Lazarowicz has welcomed the news, saying it sorted out the anomaly whereby a pensioner would have been able to travel from Newcastle to London but not from Newcastle to Edinburgh under the proposed arrangements.

He said: "It is not simply a matter of journeys between cities and destinations near borders.

"No-one will take a bus from Cornwall to Orkney for geographical reasons if nothing else.

"However, pensioners from Orkney - or from Edinburgh - will come to London.

"They should be able to use the pensioners' bus pass facility in London and London pensioners who go to Edinburgh or Glasgow should be able to make use of the free buss pass arrangement.

"It would be a nice gesture in the third centenary of the Act of Union if the Government considered providing for the Scottish and English schemes to be interchangeable.

"I was delighted by Mr Ladyman's public commitment to considering such a measure. It is the first time that I have heard such a public and positive comment from the Government on the matter.

"I welcome his statement and I am sure that many of my colleagues will also do that."

Bus industry sources said the potential problems of marrying up the separate schemes had already been flagged up by operators.

They were concerned the problems under the existing English scheme of people getting a concession to the border of their council district and then having to pay would be magnified if the English and Scottish free travel systems were not linked.

The sources said that operators would be relieved if a proper system could be introduced.