THE privatisation of bus services will increase competition, drive down prices and benefit the travelling public, so went the Tory mantra when they deregulated buses in the 1980s.

THE privatisation of bus services will increase competition, drive down prices and benefit the travelling public, so went the Tory mantra when they deregulated buses in the 1980s.

Well for anyone living up here on South Road the reality is rather different. We are to lose our bus service to the town centre which is bound to create a big problem for the many people I see using the bus as it passes my back door.

In their justification for withdrawing the service First say only an average of one person per day travels from South Road to the General Hospital. This ignores those who go to the town centre and, perhaps more importantly for the elderly, for the return journey up the hill.

It really is outrageous that First should carry on in this way - no consultation and no accountability, no profit, no service. I find it difficult to believe that they can just walk away and there is nothing the local authority can do.

Both national and local government seem to look the other way and pretend that privatised public transport is not a problem. It is and it's time they did something about it.

DAVID DRINKWATER

Atlantic Road, Weston