A LIFELINE bus service which elderly patients rely on to get to hospital will be scrapped as part of a shake-up across the area.

Changes to the number 82 service which come into effect on September 4 will mean residents will no longer be able to use the direct bus from Wotton-under-Edge to Bristol.

Adele Stockbridge, 81, of Dryleaze, Wotton, is angry that the service is being withdrawn.

“There are an awful lot of elderly and disabled people living in Wotton who are going to be affected by this,” she told the Gazette.

“It is difficult for us as pensioners to get around.

“A lot of my friends used this service to get to Southmead Hospital, Bristol Parkway station and the mall. 

“Nobody knew the service was being withdrawn until the last minute.”
The service was introduced in January 2015. 

Changes mean the service will no longer run directly from Chipping Sodbury, Charfield or Wotton under Edge to Bristol.

Bus users can still travel on the service as far as Yate but will then need to find a connection to take them into Bristol.

However the frequency of the service on Sundays has been increased from every 120 minutes to hourly.

Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) changes have also threatened the future of the 201 service from Wotton to Gloucester. 

But despite the subsidy having been withdrawn, Mike’s Travel has vowed to keep the service running for as long as possible.

“We will continue to run it for as long as we can,” said Simon Hewgill, transport manager at Mike’s Travel based in Thornbury.

“We have committed to keep it running until Christmas and then we will have to review passenger numbers and whether we can continue further.

“I don’t think a lot of people realise how radical the cuts have been to local transport services.

“It will affect a lot of people.”

Gloucestershire County Council is working with community transport provider Community Connexions, Cotswold Green and with Stagecoach, who are set to take over some routes.

Due to a lack of use, services 261, 263, 264 and 267 are being withdrawn, while others are being changed.

Alan Bently, integrated transport manager, said: “We have held events in Stroud and Dursley promoting these changes. 

“We also sent this information to different media outlets, including the Gloucestershire Gazette, as well as putting up information on our website.

“Service 201 will continue to be run as a commercial service so passengers should see very little change. 

“Services 82 and 86 are being withdrawn by South Gloucestershire Council, which is out of our control.”

A spokesman for South Gloucestershire Council said: “The main part of the route, from Wotton to Chipping Sodbury, was operated commercially by First. They have withdrawn funding for the route which will come into effect on September 4.

“This made the continued subsidy for the stretch of the route between Chipping Sodbury and Yate that the council funded, a journey time of around three minutes, unsustainable with the funding better used to enhance other services.

“However, residents of Wotton-under-Edge will still be able to access Southmead Hospital via a change of bus at Yate.”