SECOND and holiday home owners in Carmarthenshire are being advised they do not qualify for free bus bases under Welsh Government rules.

The county council’s transport division is getting requests from some of the estimated 900 second home owners demanding the passes for which the rules clearly make them ineligible.

A spokesman for county transport services said: “We occasionally have queries from householders in England who have holiday homes in Wales wanting passes for both countries.

“In recent cases several applications have been rejected because checks found they were not on the electoral register in Carmarthenshire.

“The disappointed applicants were told there is no appeals process and because they have to pay full council tax on their second homes they are contesting their bus pass ineligibility on those grounds with the Welsh Government.

“Therefore their principal residence would appear to be their homes in England ruling them out of entitlement to a Wales concessionary bus pass.”

There are currently 54,431 bus pass holders in Carmarthenshire that costs the public purse nearly £2.5 million a year.