Plea to council to help save village bus stop

Villagers are pleading with Cornwall Council to step in to save a bus stop which has been moved in a Cornish village.

The Mousehole harbour bus stop, which has been used for 90 years, has been relocated by bus operator Go Cornwall Bus forcing residents to tackle a steep hill before catching the bus.

Some residents have said they feel "trapped" as they are not physically able to reach the replacement stop. Almost 5,000 people have signed a petition calling for the harbour bus stop to be saved, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

But the council has said the bus service is reliant on "balancing revenue generation with ongoing operating costs".

At a meeting of Cornwall Council's sustainable growth and place scrutiny committee on Tuesday, villager Timothy Pullen questioned if the committee could investigate the possibility of retaining the stop.

Committee chair Cllr Connor Donnithorne replied that commercial viability was essential to protect the long-term future of the route while "ensuring resources met the needs of as many communities and residents as possible".

Donnithorne said: "This is particularly important given that First Bus, the previous operator, publicly withdrew from Cornwall citing financial unsustainability.

"Retaining harbour operation would also require the purchase of at least two additional, smaller vehicles and a return to higher frequencies, increasing annual costs by approximately £220,000, which is not considered financially viable and could jeopardise the service as a whole."

Donnithorne said a smaller vehicle would not have the capacity to support other neighbouring communities along the route.

He added: "We continue to be committed to the community of Mousehole and will use council capital funds to improve infrastructure, including installation of a new bus shelter at The Parade with additional features such as real-time passenger information and with further lighting installation also being explored."

Follow BBC Cornwall on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk.