A Chatham woman is planning to go door-to-door asking neighbours to sign a petition calling for better bus services.

Viv Parker, of Concorde Avenue, has lived on the Davis Estate near Rochester Airport since 1998.

She said she is grateful that Medway Council subsidizes the Nu Venture bus company to run the 185 service from Greenway to the Chatham waterfront bus station, but said the service did not start early enough to help people get to work.

She said: "The first bus isn't till 9am, and the last one is at 2pm.

"It's a useful route.

"It quite often fills up during the day around the Patterns Lane area where there are quite a few elderly people get on who just want to go shopping in town.

"But increasingly the Davis Estate itself is changing. There's a lot more rented accommodation with young families who need to get about."

She said the council needed to increase the subsidy so that an earlier start could be made.

She said: "The current service is just inadequate.

"The service was reduced during Covid and has not returned to its pre-Covid frequency.

"Hard-working people, who rely totally on getting the bus to their place of work, now cannot earn a living."

Mrs Parker said: "The service is a lifeline to so many local people. Without it, people will be cut off from shops, services, medical appointments, and even friends and family."

You can also sign her petition online here and here is a link to the current timetable.

Norman Kemp, the boss of Nu Venture, had a different view. He said: "The 185 bus service previously started an hour earlier, but this was discontinued about six months ago due to a near-complete lack of use.

"It rarely carried any passengers on its route from Blue Bell Hill via Davis Estate and Pattens Lane to Chatham.

"Davis Estate residents are mainly elderly. They are great supporters of the daytime bus service and we do our best to run a regular and reliable service on Mondays to Saturdays during the day."