Petition calls for service through 'bus desert'

More than 800 people have called for a bus service linking north and west Oxford via Kingston Road and Walton Street

Residents in Oxford have said they are living in a "bus desert" and are calling for a route to connect them to the city centre.

More than 800 people have signed a petition calling for the return of a bus service linking Cutteslowe and Jericho to Botley, via Kingston Road and Walton Street.

Funding for the 17 bus route, which was operated by Stagecoach, was withdrawn in July 2016 due to Oxfordshire County Council cutting bus subsidies.

They council said they "thank the campaigners for their correspondence" and would respond "in due course".

Campaigners say patients on Botley Road will need bus access to GP services in Jericho and Beaumont Street (pictured) once the road is reopened

Petition organisers said the service would help those who could not afford to drive or get taxis, as well as those who struggled to walk or cycle long distances, to access local shops and GP services.

"To the west of Woodstock Road there is a bus desert," the petition states.

"We desperately need a bus service now linking Cutteslowe, North Oxford, Summertown, West Oxford and Botley via Kingston Road and Walton Street and dipping into the areas off these roads."

Fiona Crosse, who set it up, said those who could not travel any other way felt "relatively trapped".

She said the move would also help ease traffic congestion in the city.

"The traffic on the streets from Cutteslowe to the railway station via Sunnymead, Summertown, Waterways, Walton Manor, Waterside, Jericho and along the Botley Road is noticeably worse in term time with 'school runs'," she explained.

"We wanted to support reducing our carbon footprints."

One testimony, anonymously submitted, said: "My husband has limited mobility due to a serious chronic lung condition...

"He can only get as far as the Jericho shops sometimes and very slowly."

The petition will be presented to Oxfordshire County Council at a transport delegated decisions meeting on 27 March.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has also contacted Stagecoach for comment.