Anger over bus service reduction

Residents in East Sussex are calling on a bus operator to reverse its decision to reduce the frequency of one of its services.

Stagecoach South East will change its route 51 bus, which runs from Eastbourne to Heathfield and Tunbridge Wells, from half-hour intervals to an hourly service.

Sophie Carpenter, who suffers from MS (multiple sclerosis), relies on the service for hospital appointments, and says the change is ‘disempowering’.

Joel Mitchell, managing director of Stagecoach South East, said due to fewer passengers using the number 51 it ‘can’t sustain the financial loss of continuing’ a half-hourly service.