Pensioners call for bus service to return after being left isolated in 'lost part' of Bristol

• Watch Will Charley's report

Residents in South Bristol say they have been left totally isolated after their local bus service was scrapped.

Pensioners in Ashton Vale are now campaigning for the number 23 route to resume, after it was cut due to low passenger numbers in April.

The community has been calling on the metro mayor, Dan Norris, for him to provide a bus service, after they say people have been left unable to leave the local area for months.

One pensioner campaigning for bus services to resume is 86-year-old Malcolm Owen.

Malcolm has lived in the same house since it was built in 1964 but believes bus services have been dramatically scaled back, until the area was cut off earlier this year.

He has said the removal of the 23 route has forced him to either drive his car to the nearest park-and-ride or walk to bus stops much further away.

Malcolm said: "Because I do have a slight difficulty walking, I have a bit of a problem with my knees and I've also got a heart condition I have to keep my eye on, it means I have to get my car our and drive over to the park and ride at Long Ashton.

"Or, it'll take me at least 12 to 15 minutes to walk to the nearest bus stop. That's okay on a nice sunny day [but] if I have to do that when the weather is dodgy - snow, ice, heavy rain - I don't think I'd be in a great condition when I got back."

'I do find it a struggle... You know, I'm sort of stuck, really'

Another pensioner campaigning to bring the 23 bus back is Vanda Moore, who has also lived in her home for almost sixty years.

"I can't get out like I used to," Vanda said.

"If there's no bus, then I've got to walk all the way up the drive, and I do find it a struggle.

"I've got to rely on family. If they're at work, they can't pick me up, they've got their own commitments for their jobs. You know, so I'm sort of stuck, really," she added.

'We are literally desperate... my husband has not been out since April'

Local residents have now taken their concerns to the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), led by Norris.

Bernice McKendrick spoke for the group and said local people were now 'desperate' for the service to return.

She said: "There are many young people - young, old, the elderly, the disabled - that have not been able to live their normal lives.

"My husband is... in a wheelchair. He has not been out since the 2nd of April apart from hospitals, where we have to get taxis. We are literally desperate."

Bernice added: "Personally, I think you ought to hang your head in shame for what you have done to our community."

But despite addressing WECA, no changes have yet been made.

Malcolm and other local people believe the bus is not being reinstated because those with the power to help simply aren't interested in doing so.

"I don't think they've been listening because nothing's been done," Malcolm said.

"It's still the same as it was. There's no bus service. Nothing. I always regarded Ashton Vale as a lost part of Bristol because no-one seems interested. You know, you're down there and out the way."

First Bus has said the 23 bus route was scrapped due to low passenger numbers making it unaffordable, and added that it has increased the actual number of busses running across the region.

In a statement to ITV News, Norris said that buses are a 'complicated funding jigsaw' and added: "If there is a need for a bus that is not commercially viable, then it is the responsibility of local councils to fund it."

But a spokesperson for Bristol City Council has dismissed this, saying: "Without sufficient funding from the combined authority, the route is unable to function due to it not being deemed as commercially viable by the operator.

"Supported bus services are the responsibility of the combined authority, and the running of the 23 bus route does not lie with the council."