Campaigners in South Yorkshire are today celebrating a “partial victory” in a battle to reinstate free bus and rail travel for pensioners and disabled people which was axed by transport bosses.

Disabled people, pensioners and supporters have been staging “freedom rides” on trains in South Yorkshire every Monday by boarding en masse and refusing to pay.

The campaign followed a decision by South Yorkshire Transport Authority to scrap free train travel for disabled people and restrict pensioners’ free bus travel.