Students left waiting as daily service gets axed (From Stroud News and Journal)

Students left waiting as daily service gets axed

STUDENTS will have to make their own way to college because a crucial daily bus service between Chalford Hill and Cirencester has been axed.

The news that the 22b service will now only operate once a week has left students who have just enrolled at Cirencester College wondering how they will get to lectures in the autumn.

Bus operator Stagecoach is scrapping the route, and although it is being taken over by another firm - Ebley Coaches - it will be downgraded to a weekly service.

Stephanie Swindall, 16, of Chalford Hill, is due to begin studying four AS levels and a journalism course in September.

She only found out about the timetable changes last week.

"I can't catch the school bus and my parents can't always take me," she said.

"A lot of people I went to school with are going to Cirencester. "It's one of the main colleges around here."

Her mother, Charlotte, 39, is furious.

"Parents now have to drive in and pick their children up, and I have heard of young people walking back from Cirencester," she said.

"No-one can understand why there isn't a comprehensive bus service.

"We're not asking for one every hour, we just want something that lasts for more than a year."

Gloucestershire County Council is responsible for bus routes.

Derek Lucas, transport manager, said: "Stagecoach was able to offer a very reasonable price on the route but was unable to continue at that price.

"The Chalford Hill to Cirencester route was not being used, and therefore it was not justifiable.

"Getting from Chalford Hill to Cirencester College would not have been practical anyway on the previous route.

"People can use the Cirencester service from Chalford, at the bottom of the valley."