BUS fares on York’s Park&Ride services are to rise in the New Year.

First York, which operates the service jointly with City of York Council, said the increases were due to, and in line with, inflation.

A return ticket for all services will go up by 10p to £2.60, though a single ticket will remain at £2.

Concessionary singles, available after 9am on working days and all day on bank holidays and weekends to passengers with concessionary passes, will also remain unchanged at 60p.

MinsterCard tickets for regular or frequent users will also go up. All rises will come into effect on Sunday, January 6.

Simon Pearson, First In York’s commercial director, said: “The York Park&Ride fares are directly linked to inflationary measures and therefore we have had to review our fares to meet the ongoing challenge of rising costs to our business.

“We appreciate nobody likes it when prices go up and we have held back for a number of months to make some changes, although single fares have remained the same.

“We have also worked hard to keep any increases to a minimum by introducing savings within our business to offset cost increases.

“Our aim in 2013 is to continue to give value-for-money to our customers and to continue to build upon improvements in terms of punctuality and customer satisfaction.”

Andrew Bradley, sustainable transport operations manager for the council, said the Park&Ride remained excellent value for money.

A MinsterCard’s stored value return will go up to £2.30 from £2.25.

Weekly Minstercard tickets will rise by 40p from £10 to £10.40, monthly tickets will go up £1.60 from £40 to £41.60 and annual tickets will go up by £16 from £400 to £416.