A VILLAGER fears new arrangements for bus travel are 'another assault' on the rural community.

Dr Sue Hubbard of Station Lane, Little Barrow, says her daughter is being left stranded in the middle of nowhere because a shuttle bus and a main bus are not co-ordinating properly.

Cheshire County Council describes the issues as 'teething problems'.

Her daughter Nicola, 15, a Queen's School pupil, uses the service to get home each night but in the first three-and-a-half weeks of operation has twice been abandoned without shelter at the bus stop by the Little Chef on the A51.

The problem arises when the bus operated by Arriva gets delayed in traffic and the shuttle, operated by Whitegate Travel, does not wait.

However, the county council says it has already stepped in to ensure the 16.40 shuttle bus now hangs on until 16.50.

Dr Hubbard, who regrets the demise of direct bus services to Chester, said: 'This seems to be

another assault on rural communities and does not fit in the current climate of sustainable development and reducing greenhouse gases.'

Buses from Little Barrow and Great Barrow, the 37 & 83 services, were replaced by the A51 Feeder Bus service from November 1.

'This entails getting a bus to the main A51 - to the Little Chef - to connect to the 84 or 82 into Chester,' said Dr Hubbard.

'The same happens on the way out where passengers get the 84 out of Chester, get off at the Little Chef and pick up the feeder bus to Barrow and further on.

'There is no bus shelter at the Little Chef and the A51 is an extremely busy road with a continual stream of traffic and therefore not a very safe place to stand and wait.'

Dr Hubbard, a scientist for a large chemical company, has written to county council chief executive Jeremy Taylor who offered reassurances, but she is not convinced.

Dr Hubbard said: 'She has only used it perhaps six or seven times in the first three-and-a-half weeks of service and twice the feeder bus has not been there to pick passengers up from the 84.

'So a 15-year-old was waiting on a busy main road, alone, in the dark with no bus shelter - she had to cross to the Little Chef to enable me to pick her up and then I had to drive though the traffic back to Little Barrow.'

'Clearly we cannot rely on this service and will have to use a taxi if there is no-one at home to call on in the event of there being no bus.'

Cheshire County Council, which won £405,000 for this Rural Bus Challenge project, believe the new service is a way forward and an improvement in some respects. For example, the feeder service also links the communities Huxley and Burton into the A51 service where previously there was no bus service.

Eventually it is hoped to establish a means of communications, perhaps by radio or mobile phone, so the drivers of the two buses can link together effectively in the event of delays.

A county council spokeswoman said: 'We are apologising to Dr Hubbard. The service has been operating for three weeks and like any new bus service there will be teething troubles and we have been listening to passengers. This is an idea being piloted for use across Cheshire and does in fact increase the number of buses in the area from four to six journeys, six days a week.'

Jeremy Taylor, chief executive of Cheshire County Council, said in his reply to Dr Hubbard: 'I understand that you are upset at having problems but would stress again that this is a new initiative and like any other new service initially things can go wrong which need to be rectified for the service to be a success.

'In the first nine days of operation over 140 separate journeys were made on the shuttle which should ensure with normal growth levels the sustainability of the service.'