People concerned about the future of the Coasthopper bus service were told tonight a £150,000 cut in its funding would not have a significant impact on it.

Tracy Jessop, assistant director of travel and transport at Norfolk County Council, said she was confident measures being looked at would ensure a good Coasthopper service could continue.

She was speaking to a packed room of more than 100 people at The Maltings in Wells including local residents, councillors and business owners who fear a reduced Coasthopper service could have a devastating impact on their livelihoods.

The Coasthopper, which runs between Cromer and King's Lynn, is run by Norfolk Green which receives £225,000 a year subsidies from Norfolk County Council.

The council is proposing to cut that subsidy by £75,000 a year in each of the next two years and tonight's meeting was held as part of a series of public consultations into those proposals.

Members of the public highlighted the vital role that the Coasthopper plays in bringing millions of pounds of tourism to north Norfolk and further inland.

Ms Jessop said: 'We need to find ways of recycling that money back into the service.

'There are lots of ideas we are looking at and one of them is to run a 'friends of the Coasthopper' type system where people pay in to keep it running.

'I am confident we can make the savings we need to make and still have very little impact on the Coasthopper service.'

County councillor for Wells, Dr Marie Strong said: 'Now is the time for people to lobby their MPs to try to secure funding from central government for this.

'And everyone who cares about this service needs to take part in this public consultation and have their say.'

Consultation meetings are also to be held at Sheringham Community Centre on November 15 and Hunstanton Community Centre on November 27 - both between 4pm and 5.30pm.