PLANNED cuts to a York bus route will leave Fulford residents unable to travel to the university’s new sports village, a councillor has claimed.

Coastliner wants to shorten the route of its Number 20 service, which currently operates between Acomb and Fulford via Poppleton, Clifton Moor, Haxby, Monks Cross, Heworth and Heslington East Campus, said Fulford member Keith Aspden.

Coun Aspden said the plans, scheduled to come into effect in January, involved buses stopping at Heslington Hall and no longer serving the Heslington Lane and Broadway area.

“This means there will be no bus service between Fulford and the York Sport Village, the new £9 million sports facility on the Heslington East Campus,” he said.

“I know that there are punctuality problems with the Number 20 service and the long route around York has proved difficult since the last timetable changes. However, I would be extremely concerned about cutting the service short so that the Heslington Lane area was left out.

“This is the only public transport service that runs from the Fulford area to the new swimming and sports facilities at Heslington East.”

Valerie Swaby and Peter Richardson, both of Heath Moor Drive, Fulford, also complained about the proposals, saying they would push some residents into using their cars, while others without cars would be deprived of shopping at their preferred supermarket.

They said they knew of 20 to 30 people in the area who used the service – mostly elderly people, who did not drive and who could not carry full shopping bags for any distance.

Coastliner spokesman Paul Hodgson said the route reduction was planned because of punctuality problems which had arisen along the route over the past few months.

He said it was an extremely long route, and taking Fulford out of it would provide more time for buses to arrive punctually elsewhere on the route. Although the company accepted the changes would cause inconvenience for residents, the Fulford stretch was the most lightly used section of the current route.