BUS services in the Forest and south Herefordshire will see more changes with main operators Stagecoach West poised to bring in further alterations to timetables at the end of this month.

Services in the local area that are affected include service 32 from Gloucester to Newent and Ross-on-Wye where most evening journeys, apart from a late bus on Saturdays, will be withdrawn.

The number 35 which runs from Monmouth to Coleford and Ross-on-Wye has been taken on Gloucestershire County Council after Stagecoach pulled out after Herefordshire Council cut bus subsidies.

In a statement, Bill Carr, public transport planner for Gloucestershire County Council, (GCC) said: "Following extensive feedback from our customers, user representatives and councillors, we at GCC have made arrangements for the service 35 to continue.

"There will be some changes to times, but the new service will provide good links to Monmouth, Ross and Coleford for commuters, school pupils and college students."

But to maintain the 35 service, the council are making other changes, to the Drybrook to Cinderford 746 and 747 service, while the Cinderford to Ross-on-Wye 782 will now be integrated into the 35 timetable.

There are also minor changes to the 23, 24, 24A, 32, and 33 services.

Full details of the Stagecoach changes can be found at http://www.stagecoachbus.com">www.stagecoachbus.com.

Transport campaigner Sue Dubois told the Review: "I have had many calls from people affected by the Ross routes.

"It is affecting lives by preventing journeys to work, medical, shopping and social centres. The worry that these local people are feeling is heart breaking." She added: "Thanks to Gloucestershire County Council transport team, they are doing their best to plug gaps. But the answer is we need more transport subsidy from Mr Osborne in rural areas."

More than 60 bus routes and services are to be altered or axed across the whole of Herefordshire, as the county council withdrew subsidies for bus travel in a wide ranging exercise to try and save £30 million by 2017 across the council's budget while protecting core services.

Widespread reductions in all bus services in the county have raised fears that the rural areas of the county will become even more isolated, as village communities will see almost all their bus routes sand services altered in some way. Indeed, many of the more 'local' routes are to be withdrawn entirely.