I THANK WC Moore for his kind comments about the work I undertook to get the No 16a bus up and running (Letters, December 1).

It is true that in July this year Peter Edwards (First) and Terry Walker (City of York Council) confirmed that the No 16a was working well.

My first concern was when the No 26 route was stopped in September with only three weeks' notice. When I asked why I was given a number of reasons, none of which seemed to add up. I asked about consultation but got none.

I was told on August 5 not to worry about the loss of the Monks Cross link for Acomb residents because there was still the No 16a

So when I found out that the No 16a was being withdrawn with only two weeks' notice I was aghast. I pointed out that there was no consultation, no hard figures to show the service was not working and asked for a reason why the bus was being withdrawn.

I was told it was working fairly well, subject to a few reliability problems, but with finite resources on offer from First York, re-arranging things to solve one problem inevitably has knock-on effects elsewhere.

The real reason could, then, be political. Last year I was informed by a number of residents that a politically-backed group was discouraging residents from getting on the No 16a outside of the Acomb ward, saying that if residents only went to town on the No 16 they would get back their "proper service".

Because I have had no real answer that makes sense, I feel Acomb residents have fallen foul of this campaign.

Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing,

Labour spokesperson for planning & transport,

Salisbury Road, York.

Updated: 10:14 Tuesday, December 07, 2004