STAGECOACH has announced it is withdrawing several Forest of Dean bus routes in November.

Gloucestershire County Council says it is “dismayed” by the withdrawal of services, with six Forest routes set to be cut and more to follow in Gloucester, Cheltenham and Cirencester.

The bus company says it is making the changes to “minimise the impact” of both the pandemic and a national drivers’ shortage on other services in the county.

The company notified the county council, which subsidises the services, that cuts would be made back in August.

Following this week’s announcement, transport cabinet member Councillor Phillip Robinson - whose Mitcheldean ward is one of the communities affected - said that while reinstating the lost routes with different providers is now a priority, finding alternatives in a difficult market will be “far from easy”.

Stagecoach has served notice to withdraw the 25 Mitcheldean, Cinderford and Coleford service, the 710 in Cinderford town, the 748 Westbury to Blaisdon, the 755 in Lydney and the 761 Beachley, Sedbury and Chepstow service from November 20.

The notice says some sections of the 25 route will be replaced by a new 24 route - which will no longer connect Coleford and Chepstow - between Gloucester, Cinderford and Coleford.

Cllr Robinson said: “I am hugely disappointed that Stagecoach have placed commercial interests over the needs of many of their customers in rural communities.

“We have attempted to work with the company for a long time to try and ensure that this did not happen, but the day we feared has sadly come.

“Reinstating the cancelled routes with new providers is a priority for us but this is a very challenging and difficult market and while we will make every effort to find alternatives this will be a far from easy path.

“We have also taken the very serious decision to report Stagecoach to the Traffic Commissioner.

“We will provide regular updates to residents on our progress.”

The county council has launched a survey to allow residents to provide feedback on the changes and voice how they will be affected by the cuts.

Rachel Geliamassi, Managing Director, Stagecoach West said: “We know how important local bus networks are in connecting people to jobs, education, and skills, as well as ensuring access to key public services.

“Most of all, our customers want the certainty of knowing that the services we show in our timetable will be running reliably each day.

“The continuing impact of the pandemic on sickness levels, as well as the economy-wide skills challenge has meant that some services have had to be cancelled at short notice. More widely, the pandemic has accelerated changes in when and how people travel.

“We have completed an extensive network review and engaged with Gloucestershire County Council  to plan a new network that we can deliver consistently, day in day out.

“Most services won’t change, but we have had to make some difficult decisions to match our resources to the current level of demand.

“This will mean we can deliver a more reliable service for customers and make it easier for them to plan their journeys.

“Longer-term, our aim is to grow the local bus network by working together with national and local government to attract more people out of their cars and onto more sustainable public transport.

“The more people who switch to bus, the stronger our networks will be. It can generate vital investment for more electric vehicles, helps keep fares low and ultimately will help us to expand the bus network to meet new demand.”