Bus users fear isolation from planned service cuts

Bus users said they would be isolated if services were reduced on the outskirts of Bedford.

Operator Stagecoach announced plans to stop three bus services and change other routes to Wootton and Kempston.

Kath Pearce, who lives in Wootton, said: "We are the silent generation, but we are not going to be silent anymore, we want that bus back and we want it done quickly."

David Boden, from Stagecoach East, said: "We made some challenging decisions and are truly sorry for the impact they will have, but the challenge is that the areas which will lose services have very low numbers of passengers on the buses."

Stagecoach's plans, which will come into effect from 31 May, involves routes seven, 10 and 53 being discontinued and other services changed and reduced.

Pearce, who runs a coffee morning in her local community, added: "We've got a neighbourhood that looks after each other and it's absolutely disgusting that they're taking this bus away."

Kenneth Calder, 92, said: "I've got half a job to walk, and getting to see family so just cannot imagine not having a bus service."

His wife Elvina added: "Some of our family live on the other side of town so every Wednesday and Saturday we go into town and have coffee."

She added the buses had become "a social thing for us" and they had made "new friends on buses".

Victoria Robinson, who is care manager at Liloom Home Care Limited in Bedford, said: "There's lots going on locally with pharmacies not being able to make deliveries anymore, so people cut off from these routes can't get to the pharmacy anymore."

She added: "There's not a bus for a lot of people to get to the local GP surgery and they're not going to be able to get to a lot of community events."

Boden said: "Bedford residents will see a number of improvements to buses including more frequent services on many routes to key places of work and shopping, such as the Interchange Retail Park, and other measures to maximise punctuality as far as we can."

Henry Vann, the Liberal Democrat opposition leader on Bedford Borough Council, who was handed a petition signed by 600 residents who opposed the move, said: "These are well-used buses so we think they're viable, and shouldn't be cut."

Vann has called on Bedford Borough Council to do more to stop these changes.

He said: "They got hundreds of thousands of pounds of a government grant for buses and they banked £300,000 of that against savings."

"We want them to do more, talk to the bus companies and actually try and find a solution that's going to serve this part of the world."

Nicola Gribble, the authority's portfolio holder for environment, said: "Any changes to services have the potential to disrupt people's lives, wherever they live in our borough, and we are keen to ensure that our network is kept both sustainable and reliable."

She added: "We work hard both to be transparent and to put our residents first, in this and in everything we do."

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