KNUTSFORD’S Mayor is calling for the town council to focus on getting a circular bus route back for the town.

The call by councillor Andrew Malloy came as town councillors discussed priorities for local bus service improvements ahead of a meeting with Cheshire East Council.

The town council is to review the location of bus stops in terms of seating and shelters and to investigate options for the council to fund a Knutsford Bus Service to replace the 300 town circular service.

Following the last changes to bus services the council published a survey in October 2018 to gauge the impact of the changes.

The survey attracted 71 responses, many people expressing concern about their ability to get to hospital appointments, work and shops because of the reduced frequency of services.

Town clerk Adam Keppel-Green said he had been told by Cllr Tony Dean that Cheshire East was likely to receive a six-figure sum from the Government to increase subsidies for bus services, and Cheshire East’s deputy leader was due to meet with town and parish councils to determine how this funding would be allocated.

The clerk has contacted the deputy leader to request a meeting for Knutsford Town Council.

“Eighteen months ago I held a session at The Welcome to speak to people about bus services, and was completely overwhelmed by the responses,” said Cllr Malloy.

“Subsequently we received a lot more responses and formalised a consultation. We had a huge number of comments, and it is evident to me that bus services are important to people.”

Many people were concerned about trying to get to appointments at Macclesfield Hospital, he said, as well as getting to work at places such as Crewe, Macclesfield or Warrington.

He said: “If they can’t drive they’ve got problems, and we need to push to try and get the circular bus back, and if we can, improve services generally.”

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The committee backed his proposal to stress the importance of bus services to enable people to access medical services and social care.

Councillors also backed his call for the council to work with other towns to try to ensure services were co-ordinated, as well as promoting the available services and focusing on getting a circular bus back for Knutsford.