Witheridge residents campaign for bus route to be reinstated

Residents in Witheridge are petitioning for an old bus route to be reinstated

Residents in a north Devon village are petitioning for an old bus route to be reinstated after it was scrapped 18 months ago.

People in Witheridge said the new replacement 346 service was either late or did not show up at all.

The previous 155 service used to go from Barnstaple to Exeter via South Molton and Tiverton.

Stagecoach South West said the new service was "reliable and punctual".

Devon County Council added when replacing the previous service it "tried to maintain the previous two-hourly frequency and provide connectivity with the 155 at South Molton and the 55 at Tiverton".

Roy Harknett said the bus services used to be well connected

However, Roy Harknett, 81, said the new service was "disgusting".

"When we moved there, we used to get the bus into Tiverton or go to South Molton," he said.

"Now you can't because you can't rely on the buses on the way back for changing over."

Cath Cottingham, another resident, said her daughter had experienced many problems while sitting at the bus stop for long periods of time.

"She sends me messages virtually every day telling me about problems that she has had on the bus," she said.

"Buses being late, buses missing connection, waiting in the cold and the dark especially over the winter period, being harassed by people at the bus stop because she's waiting there."

Stagecoach said its new service was reliable and punctual

Stagecoach South West said its routes were "sustainable" and "designed to reflect observed journey patterns".

It said: "The reliability and punctuality of Service 346, connecting South Molton to Tiverton via Witheridge, has seen virtually all journeys operating as scheduled and on-time, with a very small number of vehicle breakdowns across the entire timetable.

"With regards to claims of passengers not being able to continue their journeys from Tiverton towards South Molton, we have not been made aware of any recent instances where this might have occurred and welcome the opportunity to discuss this with parties involved."