BUS passengers face an increase in fares from this weekend.

First Bus has announced it is hiking up prices on longer journeys including from South Gloucestershire into Bristol and Bath city centres from Sunday, September 13.

Outer zone prices will increase by 50 pence up to £6.50 a day, from £80 to £86.40 on monthly tickets and from £840 to £907 on annual tickets. A 10-journey card will also rise from £24 to £27.

West of England zone tickets will also go up from £7 to £7.50 a day, £25 to £27 a month and £1,050 to £1,134 a year.

James Freeman, managing director of First West of England, said: “Obviously we do not like putting any prices up and we have tried to keep this adjustment to a minimum.

“We introduced our Fairer Fares campaign two years ago in the Bristol Inner Zone, we later extended this to Bath and the rest of the West of England. While the initiative has been very successful in the urban areas of Bristol and Bath, the price reductions for longer journeys have not encouraged additional travel in the same way.

“Even after this adjustment longer distance fares will, in most instances, still be lower than they were two years ago,”

Passengers who buy tickets on the company’s app and Touch smartcard users will see prices frozen.

A new £20 ticket, which allows users to make 10 journeys within the Bristol Inner Zone, is being introduced following suggestions from the public.

Single tickets across the West of England will not change.