Suspicious South Hams councillors have voted unanimously to call for fairer fares for rail passengers trying travel to London from Totnes.

The councillors are concerned about the future of the station as part of the Plymouth to London fast train route after finding passengers being charged £48 to travel from Newton Abbot compared to £121 from Totnes.

First great Western bosses have declared that price differences only arise when the cheaper advance tickets allocated to each railway station run out – and passengers have to pay the full price.

But South Hams Council leader John Tucker pointed out that 600,000 people a year use Totnes, compared to 1.4 million using Newton Abbot.

He questioned how the Totnes allocation of cheap tickets ends up running out before Newton Abbot?

And he said, whatever the reasons, London bound rail travellers face being priced out of Totnes.

He declared: 'Totnes railway station is vital to the whole of the South Hams, not just Totnes. It is vital for the economy.'

He said that the pricing could see the rail traveller number at Totnes drop to something like 450,000 a year over the next 18 months and added: 'We need the fast trains stopping there.' He added: 'It would be a disaster if less trains stop at Totnes. In fact we want more trains.'

District councillor Julian Brazil asked: 'Is this a deliberate attempt by the rail company to make it more expensive so that eventually they don't need to stop trains at Totnes?If that happened it would be an absolute disgrace.'

The district council has agreed to write to First Great Western bosses ,along with any other rail company likely to bid for the South West rail franchise, asking them to consider the viability and future of the Totnes station and to 'ensure that fairness prevails'.

They also aim to write to the Government's transport department as well as local MPs Sarah Wollaston and Gary Streeter.

The rail debate degenerated into a bit of a political slanging match after Totnes' Green Party district councillors Alan Gorman and Robert Vint complained that they had not been informed about the Conservative led council motion in advance.

Mr Gorman said the railway station was 'strategically important to Totnes itself' and added: 'We knew nothing about this until it was raised in the media'.

They both also said that no one had bothered to involve the local Totnes rail transport group which is in regular contact with the rail chiefs.

But Conservative district councillor David May told the Greens: 'Become a Conservative and then you will know what's happening.'