A PETITION, set up by two teenagers, urging a re-think on cuts to a Forest bus service has amassed more than 1,100 signatures.

Fifteen-year-old Violet Hill and Bryce Elwine, who is 14, set up the petition on the Change.org website after finding out that bus company Stagecoach West intends to reduce the frequency of the 32 service between Ross and Gloucester via Newent and cutting the 132 between Newent and Ledbury completely.

Stagecoach says the Covid pandemic has seen a large drop in numbers using the service between Newent Ross and Ledbury and it is losing money.

But the campaigners say the changes will make it impossible to travel from Newent to Ross for work and they will have a disproportionate affect on the young, old and disabled.

When the changes come into effect from Sunday, February the last bus from Ross to Newent on weekdays will be at 3.20pm

Violet, a pupil at John Kyrle High School in Ross, said: “I am a regular user of the service, I use it to get to school and meet my friends, most of whom live near Ross

“When I found out about the changes i was absolutely devastated.

“A relative, who was with me at the time, suggested I start a petition – I had never started a petition before about anything and I knew almost nothing about bus funding.

“My good friend Bryce had been interested in buses his whole life, and helped me write the description of the petition and the poster and he has done most of the emails to officials as well.”

The petition was launched on Friday, January 28 and had 300 signatures on the same day and 1,000 within a week.

Violet added: “Going into it I had no plan or expectation that it would get to many signatures. It just shows how many people care about these buses.

“The changes to these buses will disproportionately affect the elderly, youth, disabled, and poor, as it cuts them off from being able to reach the nearby larger towns of Ross on Wye and Ledbury.”

She says they are now more focused on what to do now and whether any change will come of it.

Gloucestershire county councillor for Newent, Cllr Gill Moseley (Lib Dem) said the axing of the 132 service to Ledbury was devastating news.

She claimed a month’s warning was “totally unfair” and people living in Dymock could be “left high and dry”.

“This is devastating news both for the regular and occasional users of these routes but Stagecoach states that the number of passengers is 60 per cent down on pre-Covid figures and the service is unviable.

“I have written to both the operations director at Stagecoach and to the head of services and the portfolio holder at Gloucestershire County Council.

“A subsidised service or alternative provision of some sort ought to be examined.

“Not only will Newent residents be unable to access the area north of our town by public transport, but people who live in Dymock and in the surrounding rural areas between here and Ledbury will be left high and dry.

“The service to Ross is very limited.

“The notice of little more than a month seems totally unfair and I have raised the question of consultation.

“So far, there have been no replies from Stagecoach and officers but I hope to post any useful responses [on her Facebook page] ASAP.”

Stagecoach said: “The Covid pandemic has significantly reduced the number of people using these routes, with buses north and west of Newent running at a loss.

“As a result, we’ll no longer be running between Newent and Ledbury, and continuing only a school and shopper link between Newent and Ross-on-Wye. Buses between Newent and Gloucester will still run hourly as 32, with a slightly revised timetable.”

There are also changes planned to the 24 between Chepstow, Cinderford and Gloucester, the 35 from Gloucester to Coleford and Monmouth and the 746 from Ross to Cinderford.

The 6.25am 24 from Blakeney and Cinderford to Gloucester will run 10 minutes earlier; the 5.20pm from Gloucester will run 20 minutes later and as far as Cinderford only and the 5.55pm from Cinderford to Gloucester will run 40 minutes later at 6.35pm

Most buses on service 35 will run along Station Road and Tufthorn Avenue in Coalway and Milkwall, not Coalway Road.

The first morning bus to Monmouth will start at Ruardean, not Ross-on-Wye, and the 6.50pm from Monmouth will run only as far as Milkwall.

The 5.22pm Monday to Friday service 746 from Cinderford will finish at Ruardean instead of Ross and the1.22pm Saturday journey from Cinderford will leave at 1.07pm.

To sign the 32/132 petition go to www.change.org/p/save-our-32-132-buses.