A WAVE of protests has greeted the news that the Lydney-Chepstow-Lydney leg of the present 73 bus route between Gloucester and Chepstow is to be cut.

However there is now a chance that rather than disappearing altogether the service may be reduced in frequency rather than an hourly service as at present.

Jenny Wray of Alvington has collected five pages of signatures against the closures and says her story is typical of many who use the service. For a long period Mrs Wray had to visit her husband, who has since died, in a Sedbury nursing home.

"The bus was a lifeline to me. I relied on it completely. And a lot of people do. Not everyone around here has got cars," she said.

Many letters to the Review this week have echoed her feelings, and they come in the main from people who need the service to get to and from work or who need to go shopping – many village stores having closed.

Stagecoach says it can no longer run the service because passenger numbers do not generate enough money and Gloucestershire County Council is understood to be talking with other bus companies about taking the service over. The Review understands a two-hourly service is also under consideration.

Mrs Wray adds: "I use the bus to go shopping a lot. It is very convenient having an hourly service because you can nip in and out of either Lydney or Chepstow quite quickly."

If people had to wait two hours it would lave them with a lot of time on their hands and nothing to do, especially in bad weather.