Anger after '˜major change' to bus service

Concerns have been raised following changes to a bus route through a village.
Creswell residents are angry that the number 77 bus service has been changedCreswell residents are angry that the number 77 bus service has been changed
Creswell residents are angry that the number 77 bus service has been changed

The 77 Stagecoach service through Creswell has had to be altered because more modern double-decker buses, introduced this week, do not fit under the bridge on the A616.

Stagecoach said that it had been in discussion with Derbyshire County Council since January 2017 about the need to plane the road so that there would be no problems when they introduced the new buses – but that work has yet to be carried out.

In a letter to Stagecoach, Tina Glover, chairperson of Big Local Creswell, a community-based organisation, said: “This is a major change to the service and many, many persons, both able and disabled, will be unable to take the 77 route at the sites located.

“We require public consultation in our village and public involvement in the decision and require that the service is re-instated with single double decker buses.

“All of the bottom half of the village will not have a service.”

Dave Skepper, Stagecoach commercial director, said: “We have reached the point where we need to replace the current allocation of buses for service 77 with more modern vehicles. The ones we will be using from next week are not brand new but they meet the modern specification, which means we cannot run them under the A616 bridge.

“Consequently, because the safe height has not been increased by an inch at the bridges, we have to divert. At peak times on college days the buses are usually full to capacity because of the numbers of students so we cannot run single deckers.”

He added: “We have been advertising details of the new route and timetable over the last few weeks through our website and notices on buses.”