On 13 September, the South Shropshire Journal published my letter on the disgraceful state of Ludlow’s buses:
Promises on buses have been ignored
Ludlow’s bus service is a disgrace. Unbelievably, Shropshire Council says that the quality of the service is not its responsibility. This is not the case.
It was Shropshire Council that put the contract for bus services out to tender. It has a legal obligation to ensure that public service is adequate. No right minded person would consider a service based on clapped out buses running at half the frequency and costing twice the price as adequate for the town’s needs.
Shropshire Council also has a legal duty to ensure that the needs of the elderly and disabled are met. Yet it has approved a service where half the services cannot be accessed by the disabled and the elderly find it difficult to get on board.
The council cannot pretend that it could not know that such a poor service would be a consequence of its decision. The bus service in Ludlow has been a disgrace for a long while. We were promised that it would be improved after being tendered, including a Sunday service from the park and ride.
Instead, the town’s vital bus service has got far worse.
Andy Boddington
Ludlow