COMMUTERS opposing plans to re-route a popular York bus service confronted a city transport chief at a meeting in York.

Residents of the Heslington Road area questioned First commercial director Peter Edwards about plans to send the number four service along Lawrence Street, instead of Heslington Road.

Elderly residents of nearby care home Lamel Beeches told Mr Edwards at the Fishergate ward meeting that the service was their "lifeline".

They also worried that a separate service to meet their needs would result in a less frequent service instead. The bus company is considering re-routing the service because a larger articulated bus is currently being developed, which could cause access problems in some streets.

One of the options is to collect passengers from Lawrence Street, while another would be to remove 12 parking spaces in Heslington Road, to make it safer.

Resident Ros Temple told Mr Edwards both ideas worried her.

"I have mobility problems, so at times I depend on the buses, but I'm also concerned about the parking," she said. "Some of the parking spaces have already been taken with resurfacing work.

"How could you guarantee that if we lose our parking spaces then the bus won't subsequently be moved because of the university's plans to expand over to Heslington East?"

After the meeting, Dorothy Johnson, who represented the residents of Lamel Beeches, said they were all worried and anxious.

She said: "That bus is like their lifeline. They go into town and meet their friends and some of them go into Heslington and get bank statements and so on.

"Staff and visitors also use the service.

"In the winter, they can't expect residents to walk to Lawrence Street in the cold weather. There's also the residents of the Retreat to think about - they can't walk that far either."

Mr Edwards said he had also had a chance to talk to some residents before the meeting.

He said: "Clearly it is a contentious issue. Anything to do with moving bus routes is always contentious.

"But, that said, keeping the service on Heslington Road remains my preferred option, and I hope we can do what's necessary to address the concerns of the residents."

He said: "We're hoping we can move on from this meeting and move forward."

A public consultation is now expected to be undertaken.

Updated: 10:17 Friday, October 14, 2005