Passengers could be fined up to £100 if found travelling without a valid ticket on buses across Suffolk from next week.

From Monday, June 17, First Buses will be introducing revenue protection officers who will regularly travel to ensure passengers are travelling with a valid ticket.

Any tickets purchased from the driver should be retained throughout the journey and any tickets through the app must be valid and shown when asked.

Tickets must be bought for the correct destination to stop people from travelling further than what they paid for.

Should you fail to show a valid ticket, you will be charged a standard charge of £50.

Piers Marlow, managing director of First Bus East of England, said: "We have introduced a new revenue protection officer role across the East of England.

"The role is designed to assist customers with ticketing queries and general service information.

"It is there to enhance the customer experience, aid driving colleagues with customer queries, and allow them to focus on their main priority which is getting our customers to and from their destinations safely.

"Revenue protection officers will be travelling on buses across the region – checking tickets for validity and answering general questions about our services.

"The officers will travel on all services throughout the day at random times, so we advise all customers travelling to make sure they have a valid ticket ready for inspection at all times."

Ipswich Star: Piers Marlow, managing director of First Bus East of EnglandPiers Marlow, managing director of First Bus East of England (Image: Denise Bradley)

On their website, they stated that when there is a lot of people queuing to board a bus, people push past and evade the drivers' sight.

They went on to state: "Some people are more blatant than others and just walk on and refuse to pay.

"Others will buy a child ticket that they are not entitled to or use other people's concessionary passes.

"Most of our passengers pay the correct fair, in fairness to them, it is right that First Bus do something about the minority who don't."

As well as a valid ticket, officers may require you to show any ID associated such as student ID or First Photo ID pass.

Should you be issued with a £50 fine, there is the chance to appeal. If not paid within 21 days of the issue date, the charge will rise to £75, and if unpaid a further 14 days, the price will rise to £100.