Hundreds sign petition against Gloucestershire bus route cuts

More than 600 people have signed a petition to save a "vital" bus route that is set to be axed.

Stagecoach will remove 12 routes across Gloucestershire, which together amount to 300,000 bus journeys a year.

The bus connecting Woodmancote and Cheltenham is among the routes being withdrawn on 27 November, and residents want the firm to reconsider.

Stagecoach said the service has become financially unsustainable due to low passenger numbers.

Nigel Adcock, who set up the petition, said he has seen "first hand" what happens to communities when bus services are withdrawn.

"A village in West Wales where family reside was turned from a vibrant community to a ghost village that was totally car dependent," he said.

"This is what happened when a local bus service was withdrawn."

Woodmancote resident Cheryl Agg said public services are vital for people across the borough, including older people, young people in education, shift workers in vital industries and those who cannot drive.

She said: "The loss of our only bus service will cause major disruption and inconvenience for residents."

A spokesperson for Gloucestershire County Council said the decision to cut these routes was Stagecoach's alone to make as a commercial business.

"Since we were first told about the Stagecoach cuts, we have worked tirelessly to get this decision reversed," they said.

A Stagecoach West spokesperson said: "We have worked hard to ensure that the majority of customers will retain a bus service through changes to Service D, which will now serve a wider area of Bishop's Cleeve.

"This will include serving the stop which was previously used by customers to travel from Woodmancote before Service E was introduced in 2018."

Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]