SHOPPERS and the elderly who use a daily bus service set to face the axe next month are being urged to press bus companies to have a change of heart.

The 300 Knutsford Town service operated by D and G Bus, which runs between Monday and Saturday, is due to be withdrawn from April 1.

The company said the service was to be withdrawn as a result of the Supported Bus Service Review by Cheshire East Council.

D and G said a new 88A service would operate from April on Mondays to Fridays via Shaw Heath.

The 300 starts and ends at Canute Place, taking in stops at Shaw Heath, Knutsford Bus Station and Lilac Avenue.

It runs every 30 minutes between 8.10am and 10.15pm on Monday to Friday and 8.45am to 10.45pm on Saturday.

The 88A service, which is to start from April 1, will run from Colshaw Farm to Knutsford via Wilmslow and Mobberley, on Monday to Friday, from 7.12am to 5.47pm.

The proposed loss of the 300 service has shocked Knutsford town councillor Andrew Malloy, who is urging residents who use the circular service to tell D and G and Cheshire East Council why they need it.

Cllr Malloy represents the Over ward, which takes in Longridge, Shaw Heath and Manor Park.

“A lot of people rely on the bus to get into town, including residents from Longridge, which is a large estate,” he said.

“The 300 bus is a regular service, and the people who are going to miss out if it goes include those who rely it to do their shopping, to visit friends, go to the doctors and the post office and to access other services.

“The loss of the service will affect the elderly, those people who do not have access to a car and children who want to come into town.”

He understood that the subsidised evening and weekend element of the service was due to be withdrawn, but not the commercial daytime part of the service.

He added: “The news that it has been cancelled has come out of the blue, and I would urge everyone who uses the bus to contact D and G and Cheshire East.

“Everyone needs to put their point of view forward and their reason for using and retaining the service.

“The new 88A service is going to be less frequent and will not follow the same route, and the sooner people make their views known the better.”

In November changes to the supported (subsidised) bus services in Cheshire East were approved by the Cheshire East Council Cabinet.