Pensioners' anger over bus provision

Dorothy Haynes, chair of the Parnwell Residents Association, said a cut to the service made by Peterborough City Council means the Stagecoach Citi 4 now only stops at Keys Park once a day, at 11am.

But despite attempts to have regular buses re-installed, she has been left having to navigate a crack-filled path on her mobility scooter to catch the bus at the Parnwell Centre.

“The path is diabolical,” she said. “They are wasting money filling in the cracks. It needs a new path. Using it is a nightmare. I’m jumping up and down.

“It feels like they’ve put all the money in the centre of Peterborough and forgotten about us out here.”

The 75-year-old said a lot of residents at Keys Park are pensioners and that they too have had to take taxis to get to appointments.

She also denied the council’s claim that the 21 bus stops near where she lives.

A spokeswoman for the council said subsidies to bus services were cut from £1.1 million to £600,000 in 2013 after a government cut in its funding.

She added: “The majority of bus services in the city (91 per cent) are commercial services that are run by transport companies without any council contributions. The remaining nine per cent are supported buses, subsidised by the council.”

Ross Burton, commercial director, Stagecoach East, said: “In October 2013 Stagecoach started operating the current service that serves Keys Park, which is route 21. This service has not changed since then. The route is fully supported by Peterborough City Council and operates to Keys Park twice a day.”