RESIDENTS of Chipping Sodbury are stepping up calls to restore the vital 82 bus service to the town, to get them to hospital.

The issue is to be addressed as part of a new review which was approved at South Gloucestershire Council’s scrutiny commission meeting last month.

There is currently a direct bus from Yate to Southmead Hospital but people in Chipping Sodbury have to wait for a connecting service.

Wendy Round, who lives in Chipping Sodbury, welcomed the study and talked to the Gazette about why she would like to see the bus service between the town and Yate reinstated.

Mrs Round runs the Health Shop on Horse Street, where the 82 bus is a frequent topic of conversation.

She said: “I have a lot of elderly customers coming into my shop, and they all say they miss the 82.

“Getting to Southmead Hospital has become a real ordeal for many of them. “Every customer I talk to goes on about it.

“One elderly lady I know, who has a bad leg, has to sit on a 47 bus to Yate and then wait half an hour in there for the connecting service to take her to Southmead.

“That’s one of the main problems - services aren’t timed to connect with each other. “What would be brilliant is if the bus could come all the way through to Chipping Sodbury. “I regularly come back home late at night, after looking after my grandchildren, and have to wait in Yate, sat in a cold bus shelter, waiting for the connecting service.

“And when it does come, it takes a long circuitous route, adding an extra 20 minutes to the journey.

“Chipping Sodbury is only up the road from Yate, it would only take a minute for the bus to nip up here.

“It’s not much to ask, is it, for the bus to come up the hill to Chipping Sodbury?”

Now the scrutiny commission has voted for a review to go ahead, a sub group of councillors will be tasked with producing a public report, along with officers.

Thornbury and Yate MP Luke Hall and Lib Dem councillor Claire Young, who have both campaigned for the restoration of the 82 bus service to Chipping Sodbury, see the review as a positive step forward.

Cllr Young said: “We have long pushed for a proper joined-up review into our area’s transport needs including, parking, public transport and our road networks.”

Luke Hall said: “I am delighted to see that councillors are following up on my Get Yate Moving Transport campaign with this review, which is really bringing back focus to our town’s transport needs.

“I’d like to thank residents who took the time to share their views and thoughts in my survey on what projects they would like to see, such as an improved bus service, a Yate Park and Ride, increased and more frequent train services and new roads to support our growing town.”

A spokesman for South Glos Lib Dems said: “There is no guarantee that the cabinet will accept what the report suggests, and the spending implications, but it will provide a comprehensive plan for what Yate transport should ideally look like, so that we can continue to push in that direction.”