Letter to the Editor: Thank you very much for printing my letters to you relating to the 23 bus service.

Sorry to drone on for the third time, but I believe it is very important for this to be sorted out, if at all possible, for the sake of residents of, for example, the villages of Bream and Whitecroft.

Today (Saturday 12 November 2022), I took the 23 bus from Whitecroft to Lydney.

All was well on the way into Lydney – no complaints. However, when I waited for the bus home just after 4pm, it didn’t turn up.

Like others at Lydney Bus Station, I then had to wait a significant period of time before the next bus (23) from Lydney to Whitecroft (the Coleford bus) arrived, and so didn’t get home until much later than I was expecting.

Although this was inconvenient, and rather frustrating, I am thankful to say that today happened not to be a working day, so fortunately it did not matter precisely what time I got home – and, I was also very thankful to get home safely before it got really dark, because of course you have to walk home from the bus stop (preferably before it becomes pitch-black!).

For those who do work on weekends, however, it is completely unacceptable, and I really hope that Stagecoach West, Mark Harper and whoever else would reach some sort of agreement, and find enough funding for the 23 service, The Robin, other bus services in and around the Forest (and other community transport links – apologies that I cannot list them all here).

Am I correct in thinking that, on top of this complete mess with the buses, the bus fares are due to increase on November 27?

It does not seem right to me at all.