IN my wanderings around the Forest I often see local buses and, with the sole exception of those doing school runs, they are either empty or are carrying just one or two passengers. There can be no possible economic justification—and barely any social justification—for most of these services.

I suspect that one reason for their low occupancy rates is that they are simply not useful, probably since the schedules are designed to suit the needs of the operators rather than those of the communities they supposedly serve.

The community bus model, on the other hand, bases the vehicle within the community and runs to a schedule designed by its users. Not withstanding Mrs E Thomas's misgivings (Review, July 1), they can be very successful and of real benefit to all concerned. 

Before moving to the Forest I lived in a village which has run a very popular community bus for many years. It runs to a schedule including local collection and delivery of pupils at the local primary school, shopping trips to nearby towns, a weekly trip around outlying areas to take people to the local post office and, when not otherwise engaged, is available for private hire. Under the latter heading it takes local sports and social groups to and from events as well as purely private expeditions by families or other groups. In other words, it serves its local community.

The village is Seend, in Wiltshire, and a description of the service is under the "Seend Shuttle" heading in their (excellent) website http://www.seend.org.uk">www.seend.org.uk. I am sure that the organisers would be happy to advise any Forest community which wished to set up a similar enterprise.

– Clive Akerman, Bell Hill Cottage, Central Lydbrook.