A Mid Sussex grandmother has launched a campaign to give free bus passes to pensioners in her area.

Mary Chapman, 71, of Farm Close, Hassocks, is annoyed senior citizens in Mid Sussex are only entitled to half-price bus fares.

She is now urging people to support her and sign petitions being distributed across the area.

The grandmother-of-three said: "There are a lot of pensioners I know who cannot afford the bus pass.

"If I can do something for them I will. The villages in Mid Sussex are quite rural and buses provide elderly people with vital connections.

"The point is that in some towns and counties senior citizens get free buses whereas in other places they do not. My sister, who lives in London, gets on to buses and tubes for free. We pay the same council tax. It should be the same all over."

Mrs Chapman has left her petition in a variety of places including the doctors' surgery, the Age Concern shop and the pet shop in Hassocks as well as medical centres in Ditchling and Hurstpierpoint. She is also doing door knocks across the area.

She said: "I am asking people to sign the petition to help put pressure on the council to change the rules. When I have 2,000 or 3,000 signatures I will start presenting them to our local councillors.

"I don't know what response I will get but I'm sure a lot of pensioners will support this campaign."

Mid Sussex District Council confirmed that at the moment, concessionary bus passes are issued to anyone of retirement age. They entitle people to half-price fares across Sussex and discounted prices on trains and taxis.

A council spokeswoman said: "Our current bus passes cost the council in excess of £100,000 and there are more than 5,500 in circulation.

"We feel this is the best value scheme. If we ran a totally free service, the additional cost would have to be met from somewhere."