CALLS have been made for an axed bus service which provides a "lifeline" for the elderly and disabled to be reinstated.

The Malton and Norton Town Bus has not run since the operator, Stephensons of Easingwold, ceased trading on January 19.

Norton county councillor Keane Duncan, who is calling for the service to be urgently taken over by another operator, said it had left many pensioners and disabled residents facing a choice between using taxis and tackling the three-mile round trip to Malton on foot.

“Simply put, we need our bus back as soon as possible,” he said. “The service has been out of action for over a week now – and while all other services have been taken over, the town bus has not. It is not looking good for its future.

“This bus was used by residents of all ages, for all sorts of reasons. Often it was to reach appointments and every day essentials. Many can’t do without it, and it would be a huge blow to Norton if we were to lose it permanently.”

Cllr Duncan said he has written to six different operators of bus services in the Ryedale and York areas asking for them to consider taking on the route.

He said: “The town bus had a popular and loyal following, with a reported annual usage of 45,000 back in 2013. I think there is a strong and viable business case for the 193 route to continue.

“If we can get another operator to take it on, even on a reduced frequency or a slightly modified route, that would be at least be a start. Hopefully we can find a way to make it work.”

Norton pensioners and regular bus users Margaret Huss, Betty Thornton and Joan Hill said the service was a “lifeline” that many cannot live without.

Mrs Huss, 91, said: “It gets us up to the shops, for our pensions, to the surgery, doctors, dentist, opticians – anything.

“When you get to 90, it’s too far to walk and to carry your shopping back. I can’t make it as far as Malton. But we’re going to have to manage somehow.”

Mrs Thornton, 84, said: “We haven’t got cars. We’re elderly people that’s the thing and we’re desperate.”

Former Norton Primary School teacher Mrs Hill, 78, said: “We are all in our 70s, 80s and even older. It’s the social thing as well. Often that’s the only people they see, the only people they talk to. You get to know what’s going on in the town.”

The 190 Foxholes to Malton service has now been taken over by North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC). It will run with an unchanged timetable along part of the 193 town bus route.

All other former Stephensons services in Ryedale have now been taken over by replacement operators.

A spokesman for NYCC said: "There have been no developments on the town bus service at the moment. It is a purely commercial service and would rely on an operator coming forward."