RURAL residents in Sedgemoor are outraged after it emerged a key bus route will be dramatically scaled down from the end of the month.

The Buses of Somerset have announced that daytime buses on the Cannington to Minehead service will stop from Saturday, October 29, but villagers fear they will be left stranded if the bus it cut, unable to make hospital appointments, get to work, or do their shopping.

The 14 service will affect people in Nether Stowey, Cannington, Combwich and Stogursey.

Bridgwater and West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger said he was 'livid' with the way Buses of Somerset were treating his constituents.

He has written to the company warning they will leave hundreds of local families isolated with no public transport to get them to shops or other local services.

And he has criticised it for failing to consult properly. He says most of its passengers only learned of the proposals through notices tied to bus stops or from drivers.

“There is nothing on your website under news, current issues and planned changes and yet First Bus passengers in the Bristol area have changes and consultations on their website,” he has told the company.

“As pretty much the only provider of bus services in the area, there is a view that Buses of Somerset are effectively holding the area to ransom over these cuts and I have to say that this is view that I share.”

Alison Thomson and Jock Calder, who use the 14 bus service regularly, expressed their frustration at losing the buses.

Mrs Thomson said: "It is absolutely rubbish. A lot of people rely on these buses, not just for college, but for shopping and to go to work.

"We only found out via Facebook, the lack of notice has been appalling."

Mr Calder added: "Why are we paying taxes if we are losing basic services?"

Caro Slaymaker, Nethey Stowey Parish Council clerk said: "There is a lot of outrage. We have a significant number of old people in the village who cannot drive anymore, and if these buses go they will be stranded.

"It is a shame the routes cannot be justified commercially but for those that do use these buses, they depend on it and feel it should be subsidised.

"There are a number of residents who have said they would be willing to pay more if that meant the difference between a bus and no bus, but there is now no time to sort that out.

"There are a lot of rural villages that will no longer be covered, and it means elderly people are likely to become more and more isolated.

"There are also a number of young people in these villages and the bus is the only way to get about independently."