STUDENTS and pupils who attend Lakers and Five Acres campuses face the prospect of having to walk to and from Coleford town centre, as Stagecoach West are set to axe their bus service – and many other local bus services.

The company have announced a radical mass of cuts to the services they offer to the Forest and Wye Valley, with Newent being particularly hard hit.

Commuters have branded the cuts as harsh, and claim that the paucity of services will effectively leave many people stranded in their towns and villages.

Passengers will see some changes implemented on August 30, just before the schools return, when the 823 bus, which runs from Lydney to Lakers School, will be replaced by the standard 23 service – which starts and terminates in Coleford town centre.

A concerned parent, who did not wish to be named, has slammed the move, and claims that it could put young people’s lives and wellbeing in jeopardy.

She told the Review: “I’ve looked at the notice on Stagecoach West’s website, and compared it with the existing timetable, and my child now faces a walk all the way from Coleford out to Lakers school, and then back again in the evening.

“That means my daughter will have to walk, in all weathers, about two miles to get to her school. This is totally unacceptable. Quite apart from the aspect of her trying that walk in rain or snow, there are roads to cross too.”

She added: “How can they possibly justify leaving our children to have to walk that distance. It can only be saving a few pounds, and puts the pupils at real risk.”

The changes to the 823 service will begin on August 30 – just before the schools return after their summer holidays.

Other services which will see major alterations to their timetables, include the 32/132 bus which runs from Gloucester, through Newent, and on to Ross-on-Wye or Ledbury.

A total of 35 bus journeys per week are to be axed on that route, leaving a fraction of the current services still in operation.

The company have said that the cuts are ‘a result of low demand’, a claim that they also make about the 24 service, serving a route from Gloucester to Joys Green via Mitcheldean.

This service will also be the subject of large cuts. The company website states that: ‘As a result of low demand the timetable (for this service) will significantly alter between 9.30am and 3.30pm on Mondays to Fridays, and throughout the day on Saturdays.’

Sue Dubois, who has championed the cause public transport in the area, through her Better Buses For The Dean campaign, is concerned that the County Council are not doing enough to address the seriousness of the situation facing local bus users.

She told the Review: “At County Council level they have pledged to run a public consultation over the state of the bus service locally, which is supposed to start at the end of August.

“But I am concerned that, as usual, they will run the consultation exercise online, and this will exclude a large percentage of bus users who do not access the internet.”

She added: ‘The County Council have stated that they wish “to review parts of networks that are not working well or where there’s significant concerns,” and have said that “no solid decisions are to be made this year.” But in any case they will not be making any public announcements until they have their budget announcements in February of next year.”

Some details of the proposed changes to the timetables have been posted on the Stagecoach website, although the Newent details were subsequently removed.