• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Travel Travel News

Angry residents left stranded in village and prisoners in homes after only bus service was axed

"...aged people like me, the disabled, and those without cars will be locked in the village. Is it just accepted for us to die of hunger?"

SWNS by SWNS
2022-06-08 10:53
in Travel News
Credit:PA

Credit:PA

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Angry residents claim they have been left stranded in their village and prisoners in their own homes after their only bus service was axed.

Villagers said they have no way to get to shops, doctors’ surgery, the dentist and the library after the cut to their only transport route.

Firm Stagecoach South East withdrew the number 3 bus which served Oare, near Faversham in Kent, as it was “barely used” and deemed unsustainable following the Covid pandemic.

But the move left pensioners like Marika Sherwood, 84, with no way of getting into the nearby town.

She said: “So aged people like me, the disabled, and those without cars will be locked in the village. Is it just accepted for us to die of hunger?”

Stagecoach took on the rural route “on an experimental basis” last August after it was dropped by previous operator Arriva.

It has been providing an hourly service up until 2pm, but now the company said it is no longer viable and axed it along with a string of other services.

The company said passenger numbers generally have slumped by 25 per cent post-pandemic, forcing it to make some “tough decisions”.

Matthew Arnold, Stagecoach South East’s commercial director, said: “We’ve done everything we can to protect these services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but we now have to make some really difficult decisions for the short-term.

RelatedPosts

Limits on liquids in cabin luggage set to be axed

Brexiters foaming as Spain may force Brit visitors to prove that have £85 a day to spend on holiday

Anyone surprised? Britain’s railways not engineered to cope with heatwave

Public vote to crown the home of Great British Railways

Barely used

“Services that were barely used even before the pandemic are now unsustainable without some form of ongoing financial support.

“These are tough decisions to make because we know the impact they may have on individual people in the locations affected, but by making changes now, we can ensure other critical services in the area are maintained, and we can plan to respond to new travel patterns as demand emerges and the Covid recovery continues.”

But that is no comfort to regular users like retired teacher and historian Mrs Sherwood.

She added: “Others I have been speaking to at the bus stop just don’t know how they are going to travel if, like me, they don’t drive because who can afford £17 return to Faversham in a taxi?”

The last service from the village was on Wednesday last week (June 1).

Mrs Sherwood has now written to Faversham and Mid-Kent MP Helen Whately urging her to intervene.

She added: “Stagecoach’s profits went up 104.3 per cent in the half year ending October 30, rocketing to £32.9m, so it’s surely not beyond their income to have buses come to Oare.”

Related: ‘Really unacceptable:’ Disabled woman left on plane for 90 minutes after staff failed to show at major UK airport

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

‘This stadium has to be a difficult place for any opponent’ – Spurs man on new stadium

After cancer treatment I was told I could never walk…but look at me now!

Frans Timmermans laments “Dad’s Army” negotiating team in scathing Brexit assessment

Film Review: Game Night

As nurses protest outside parliament, this is the moment Tory MPs cheered after blocking a pay rise

Violent burglar held up terrified London family at knife & gunpoint bailed to carry out another attack

It’s a very mad world: And that’s just how the media want it

Weather forecast, alerts and UVB index for London, Wednesday 23 December 2020

Beer of the Week: Guinness Open Gate Citra IPA 

Beer of the Week – Lowlander I.P.A

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.