RESIDENTS packed into a public meeting in Yate to discuss concerns surrounding bus service cuts.

Metro Mayor Dan Noris held the first of a series of two-hour brainstorming workshops, called Big Choices on Buses where residents are invited to help the Labour Weca mayor thrash out ideas to save vital routes.

During the meeting last on Monday, several residents said they did not want to travel just to Bristol city centre but that recent cuts meant they could not get to places like Fishponds, Downend, Southmead and Kingswood.

Others said parts of north Yate were effectively cut off despite more homes in the pipeline.

The meeting involved residents grouped around tables for an hour to discuss the main problems and suggest solutions, with the metro mayor going around each before asking them in turn to share their ideas with the room.

Speaking at the meeting, one woman said: “Pucklechurch will be completely isolated without the Y5.

“There are about 3,000 people in the village, about half of whom won’t be able to get anywhere without the bus.

“A shuttle bus to Emersons Green would be helpful.”

A Yate resident said: “The main problems are the unreliability and not knowing if the bus is going to come.

“The service is good when it does run but you can’t rely on it.”

Asked about concerns over the Y5, which goes from Chipping Sodbury to Bristol via Yate, Westerleigh, Pucklechurch, Staple Hill and Fishponds, a First West of England spokesperson said: “As a condition of transitional funding arrangements, bus operators must undertake full network reviews to assess the viability of all routes once funding ends in the autumn.

“This is currently taking place in West of England but we must stress no decisions have been made and it would be inappropriate to comment on speculation at this stage. 

“Like all other bus operators in the UK, we must adapt our networks to match the post-pandemic demand for services.”

Mr Norris, who heads the West of England Combined Authority (Weca), which is responsible for the region’s strategic transport, announced on his website on July 18 that

First planned to cut the route, along with the No 5, from Downend to Bristol, and the Y4 and Y5 between Yate and the city.

The operator has called this “speculation” ahead of a network review being completed, but the firm’s boss told a South Gloucestershire Council meeting last month that some services would have to be withdrawn from October when the Government’s covid funding ends amid a driver shortage crisis and spiralling costs.