Public anger over bus service cut

First says the Scholes service to Leeds is no longer viable

About 200 people are expected to attend a public meeting in a Leeds suburb later to voice their anger over plans to axe a local bus service.

Bus operator First says the 68 and 68A services through Scholes are to end on 20 July because they are not viable.

Instead it is considering diverting the 64 route through the village, which would offer a less frequent service.

Scholes Community Forum spokesman George Hall said villagers feared they would end up with no service at all.

Mr Hall said: "There are people that feel the bus operator is being rather greedy and the profits which they showed on their balance sheet last year are increasing.

"This really is a spiral whereby they will cut a service by saying it is not being used regularly; because of that we find fewer people are using the bus, the prices increase and that is another reason why people use the bus service less.

"We are genuinely concerned that in the not-too-distant future we could find ourselves with no bus into our village at all."

Village survey

First Bus said in a statement it had looked at alternative proposals for the 68 and 68A services, but most would cost more than the existing service.

"We believe the current solution involving a diverted 64 will be viable as a commercial operation but we need a clear indication that the routing through the village is wanted," it said.

"As a result we have taken the unusual step of surveying at our own expense the village with a house drop questionnaire and reply paid return envelope.

"We will not be attending the public meeting as we believe local people need to try to come to a consensus on whether the routing proposal for service 64 is to be taken up or whether they wish to continue to pursue other routing possibilities.

"Our village survey should help to provide an answer to this important question."