Mike Bawden, left, and Jemima Milton, right, receive a petition from Chiseldon residents Picture Ref: 76941 VILLAGERS have presented Swindon Council with a petition calling for their bus service into Swindon to be saved.

Chiseldon residents say the Stagecoach number 70 is their lifeline and if it is withdrawn they will be cut off.

Stagecoach announced it would be withdrawing the service in March saying that not enough passengers use it to make it viable.

But Kath Poynter, 65, of Castle View, who set up the 613-signature petition, says that is far from the case.

'It truly is our lifeline,' she said.

'Lots of people use it to get to work. Young people use it to get to college and the elderly travel on it to the Great Western Hospital.

'Without it people won't be able to get to the shops in Swindon and some people might have to give up their jobs.

'It will isolate us totally from Swindon and Marlborough.

'I'm very worried about how the elderly residents will cope with this.'

Gwendoline Smart is 76 and uses the bus often to get to the Great Western Hospital.

Her son Peter Smart, who is 32 and lives with her in The Crescent, works as a nurse at the GWH. She says that as he does not drive he may be forced to give up his job if the bus service is withdrawn.

"I am disgusted that this is happening.

"I suffer from asthma, heart trouble and I'm diabetic so I really rely on the bus service to get to the hospital.

"My son won't be able to get to work if they stop the bus service. He already has to get a taxi there if he is on early shifts.

"My daughter says I should sell up and come and live in Swindon but I don't want to."

Cabinet member for environment and property Jemima Milton (Con) is supporting the residents.

She said: "People in the borough's rural communities rely on public transport and we must do all we can to provide a good service.

"The Stagecoach proposal is not good enough and I hope that together with Swindon Council we can find a way of providing a regular service."

In a statement, Stagecoach said it was continuing to run the evening timetable with the support of Wiltshire County Council but said the decision by Swindon Council to cut the concessionary fare budget by £200,000 per annum and withdraw £38,000 financial support for socially necessary tendered services meant the company lost £100,000 revenue per year. It said it could not continue to run the daytime service at a loss and wants the council to tender a replacement service.

Diana Milne