IN the rural area west of the Severn, we are subject to the same rules that apply in Gloucester or Cheltenham, yet we are considered lucky if we are served by one bus an hour which takes three quarters of an hour to complete its journey. No relevant buses run on Sundays or Bank Holidays.

We have the same needs as people in urban areas. In order to keep appointments, to work voluntarily, or for any number of valid reasons for early travel, we shall have to pay full fare in order to arrive in time to make our journey worthwhile.

At present the bus leaving Lydney about 8.40am is always filled with pensioners, as is the 9.40am service. So twice as many people will travel to board the 9.40 in future. We can't travel free in any other direction because of the Welsh border.

We are exhorted to get our passes online when we have no access to computers, or to call at libraries which soon won't be there. We pay large sums of money in council tax – no less than other people in the county. We are not being treated equitably.

It is puzzling to understand how money will be saved. Empty buses will still run and the volume of car traffic journeying from the Forest to Gloucsester will increase. At the time of the roadworks on the A40 at Highnam we were promised 'Park and Ride', which never materialised. Bureaucracy seems incapable of joined-up thinking.

The pensioners of West Gloucestershire are being excluded from the opportunity to contribute their skills and knowledge to the needs of the wider community.

– Elisabeth M Conder, Bathurst Park Road, Lydney.