Two estates in Northampton will be left without bus services following the decision of the operator to cut routes.

First Bus has announced it will no longer run the 11/14 or the 13 services to Parklands and Links View from the beginning of January.

The company says the cuts are needed so it can improve the rest of its services in Northampton.

Councillor Terry Wire, Northampton Borough Council cabinet member for transportation, condemned the move as "totally unacceptable".

'Utterly ridiculous'

Residents of the estates told BBC Radio Northamptonshire they were shocked by the announcement.

"It's utterly ridiculous - we don't have our own transport," said one woman.

"At the moment I can walk up to the top to get a bus, but coming home with the shopping it's going to be very difficult."

One man said he and his wife were considering moving to a house on a bus route.

"We're both elderly, we're both slightly disabled, there's no way we're going to manage without buses."

First Bus issued a statement saying it was cutting routes which were not commercially viable to allow it to invest in other services in Northampton.

The company has recently introduced 22 new buses at a cost of over �2m, and plans to deliver more.

"This investment in public transport on services within the borough shows without doubt that First is indeed fully committed to improving the product we supply."