Passengers have reacted with anger at the decision by bus firm Stagecoach to axe a route it says is now “unsustainable” after subsidy was cut.

Such has been the outcry at the scrapping of route G - which runs from Godinton Park to South Willesborough via Ashford - that the town’s MP says he can’t remember the loss of a bus route which has “caused so much distress to so many people” in almost 25 years in office.

The service had received partial subsidy from Kent County Council (KCC) until April 2019, but despite this cut operator Stagecoach continued to run the route.

However the Covid crisis saw bus passenger numbers collapse, only recovering to around 70% of pre-pandemic levels today, and Stagecoach says this has made the route unviable.

Jo Sherrington, from Singleton, is angry at the decision to cut the service, which her child uses every day after school to travel to their father’s house in Repton Park.

“This will have an impact on school pupils, commuters, anyone wanting to go to town or the train station,” the 50-year-old said.

“It is a vital link for anyone who doesn’t drive or have access to a vehicle. Parents will already have paid hundreds of pounds for bus passes which will now have little or no use as there will be no service to use them on.”

Retired teacher and Green Party member Peter Morgan said: “I use Ashford’s public transport extensively, but I still have to maintain a small car to make some journeys. Several of Ashford’s rapidly growing orbital suburbs have no bus service and are entirely car dependent.”

A public meeting was held on Monday evening at South Willesborough and Newtown (SWAN) Community Council to discuss the scrapping of the route, which terminates at the junction of Gladstone Road and Cudworth Road.

Residents packed into the Salvation Army Hall on Cudworth Road to voice their concerns about Stagecoach’s announcement that it would not run the service after Sunday, April 17.

Sue Mullan, chairman of the community council, said: “The SWAN area has one of the highest deprivation ratings in Ashford. It seems illogical and unreasonable to now deprive this community of a bus service which is a lifeline for so many.

“We heard about the impact on the elderly and infirm, wheelchair users, people with mental health issues, single working parents and supporters of public transport who use the bus to travel to work.”

Ashford MP Damian Green says he has received an avalanche of messages from constituents about the decision to axe the route.

“It is causing a lot of distress, particularly for parents of schoolchildren that use it,” he said.

“In my time as an MP, never has a bus line closure caused so much distress to so many people.

“I have asked Stagecoach to reconsider and asked them to maybe talk to Kent County Council about whether there can be some kind of subsidy arrangement because clearly from the response of my inbox, this is causing a lot of anxiety.”

A spokesman for Stagecoach said: “Services that were struggling to cover their costs before the pandemic, are now unsustainable.

“It’s a difficult decision to make because we know the impact it may have on individual people, but by making this change to our commercial network now, we can ensure that other critical services in the area are continued and that jobs at our operations base in Ashford are protected.”

A KCC spokesman said: “The decision to remove this service has been taken by the operator but KCC will attempt to find an alternative provider.”

Following its meeting on Monday, SWAN has resolved to lobby both Stagecoach and KCC to maintain bus links to the area, and a ‘Save our Buses’ petition has been started.

For more information, click here or search for SWAN Community Council on Facebook.

Alternatively, paper copies of the petition are now available at the clerks’ office.

Do you use the G route? Email kentishexpress@thekmgroup.co.uk or comment below