PROPOSED cuts to rural buses in west Dorset have been described as "a travesty" by a pensioner who has been using the service for 19 years.

Dorset County Council is proposing to slash routes in west Dorset - meaning villages including Salway Ash and Marshwood would be left without any bus service.

June Williams, who lives in Salway Ash, uses the weekly 42 bus in order to visit Bridport on market day.

She said: "Quite simply, it's a travesty.

"It is a very popular bus service and it is used by a lot of people. It is used for shopping, it is used for businesses. People go to the library or some of them use it to get to medical appointments.

"If the bus does get stopped, there would not be any way of getting into Bridport. I don't drive and I cannot afford to get a taxi.

"I have caught this bus for the last 19 years on a Wednesday. People will be completely isolated."

West Dorset Western Area Transport Action Group (WATAG) has raised concerns over proposals to replace services with community transport.

Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

Alan Williams from WATAG, said: "The 42 lost its Saturday service the last time there were cuts and now only runs on a Wednesday.

"The concern that we have is these buses that are used will be sitting empty for most of the day. It seems a waste of public money. This time, the number of people travelling on the services doesn't matter.

"I think it might be a way forward, but the way that it is being promoted at the moment is not as a community value."

Cllr Dave Rickard, who represents Bridport at town and district level, said it was "incredible" that villages with limited bus routes faced losing services.

He said: "It's a nonsense. It strikes me that it is time somebody took it by the scruff of the neck and provided a proper bus route.

"They are offering community transport. I find it incredible that a village that has one or two bus services a week has been targeted to go.

"We are a gateway to the Jurassic Coast and it is ludicrous."

The county council has launched a public consultation before it plans to axe funding for up to 26 services, which could leave some villages without any public transport, in a bid to save around £500,000.

The proposals include the 42 from Bridport to Drimpton, the 14 from Thorncombe to Marshwood, the 213 from Broadwindsor to Dorchester and the 688 from Thorncombe to Axminster.

The results will be discussed by the Cabinet on February 24.
To complete the consultation, please visit dorsetforyou.com/travel-dorset/2016-bus-review by Monday, February 8. Hard copies are available at libraries and town and parish council offices.