IF POOR people, old people, sufferers from epilepsy, poor vision or heart problems were only allowed out of their village once a week in a foreign country, we would be appalled.

But this is what is happening to thousands of people in the UK because of the cuts to public transport funding.

Bus operators have had their fuel duty rebates slashed, reimbursements for concession scheme decimated, and funding for essential rural bus services has seen cut after cut after cut.

Rural transport provision has probably halved in the last few years, yet a recession and increasing numbers of the elderly mean that more people need buses that are no longer there.

Can you imagine what it's like to never be able to go anywhere on a Sunday or to have to be home by six? No films, plays, music, parties, pubs, meals out or evenings with friends?

If you are a rural non-car user you don’t have to imagine this; it’s reality. And it’s going to get worse.

This appalling situation is incomprehensible to most car users. The fault lies with successive governments; the remedy lies in the hands of this one.

If a tiny proportion of urban and metropolitan spending were to be spent on funding rural bus services, we would see a return to a more civilised life for so many people.

Eden Blyth, Wrelton, Pickering.
 

• READING your headline of December 12 (“Rural buses under threat”) and the accompanying editorial comment, it would appear that drastic measures may have to be introduced by rural communities so that they can run their own services.

It seems clear that commercial bus operators struggle to make a profit on many routes in Yorkshire without some form of subsidy.

Volunteers have been mentioned in previous articles in The Press, but in many cases drivers can be paid within any community transport group or association, if trustees are prepared to run such a service for their community.

Many people with experience could take on that role and be successful in providing such a lifeline in the future.

Keith Chapman, Custance Walk, York.