Protesters in Wotton-under-Edge walk doomed 84/85 bus route to protest cuts

• Watch: Campaigner explains the reasons behind the protest.

Campaigners have walked an entire bus route with a cardboard cut out of a bus to protest their "lifeline" service being axed.

The 84/85 service from Yate to Chipping Sodbury and Wotton-under-Edge - which stops at Yate Shopping Centre, Katharine Lady Berkeley's, and Chipping Sodbury School - will no longer run from 1 September.

It is not the first time the route has been under threat. It was due to stop operating from 3 June but was extended for three months.

However, no long-term funding options have been found by South Gloucestershire Council and so the route is once again due to stop running in six weeks time.

On Friday 19 July, around 50 people gathered in Wotton-under-Edge with those who were able then walking the entire route in protest.

The group hope fresh funding will be found to keep the route running.

Barbara Lawrence was one of those protesting. She described the route as a "lifeline", saying: "It's so important to so many people - the young, the old, the families. It's well used considering it's a rural route."

She said losing the service will mean people can't get to work, apprenticeships or their GP appointments.

"We have a young lady, Tia, she catches the bus every day. She's an apprentice mechanic in Chipping Sodbury - come September, she won't get to work," said Barbara.

"We've got elderly people who won't get to their GP appointments. We've got a young man at Renashaw who is working - he lives in Yate - he won't get to his engineering job. There are so many."

South Gloucestershire Council says it has been doing all it can to keep the 84/85 bus service in operation.

The authority said it worked with Gloucestershire County Council to find the funding that temporarily saved the route so "longer-term solutions" could be explored - but none have been found.

The West of England Combined Authority (WECA) will instead launch a new 'WESTlocal' bus service for the Cotswold Edge from 1 September. It will be a flexible, twice-hourly service covering Hawkesbury Upton, Wickwar, Charfield, Chipping Sodbury and Yate from Monday to Saturday.

South Gloucestershire Council's cabinet member for planning, regeneration, and infrastructure Cllr Chris Willmore said: “We have heard loud and clear the voices of residents, particularly those living in our rural communities, about the fact that without reliable local bus services, they can be cut off from work, education and opportunity."

He said WECA "ultimately has responsibility" for bus services, adding: "We want to see long-term solutions to these issues, and not just the patchwork of short-term fixes that we too often find ourselves left with. We will only find long-term solutions if long-term funding is committed by the transport authority."

He described the WESTlocal bus as a "short-term fix" but said South Gloucestershire Council "will leave no stone unturned" while finding a "reliable, affordable and fit-for-purpose bus network for the long-term".

A West of England Combined Authority spokesperson said: “The 84/85 is funded by South Gloucestershire Council.

“The Mayor’s number one priority on buses has been increasing passenger numbers through new and innovative services like Birthday Buses. Because of these measures, passenger numbers have grown by 13% in 12 months.”