A VITAL bus service to local villages is to be axed amid claims that communities will face further isolation and hardship.

Cornwall Council is about to withdraw its dial-a-ride Corlink service due, it says, to a cut in Government funding it has received.

Villages affected include Blisland, St Breward, St Tudy, St Mabyn and St Teath.

The council says it is working to extend the conventional bus service to the villages, but it will not go to Blisland.

People living in the moorland village say the withdrawal of their only bus service will cause hardship for those without their own transport, including students and the elderly.

The Corlink service links Bodmin, Wadebridge and Camelford to the villages. It has already stopped travelling to Blisland, where the council claims demand has been lowest.

'Disgrace'

Anne Hill, Blisland's postmistress, is one of those affected by the withdrawal of the service. She lives in St Breward and can no longer catch the bus to work.

"I used the Corlink bus every day for four years, and there were always a good many people getting on it at Blisland," she said. "I can manage get a lift to Blisland, but there are students, people who work outside the village and many elderly people who absolutely need the bus service.

"Usually there were seven or eight of us on the bus most mornings and it's a disgrace that it has been stopped. It will mean elderly people in particular will lose their independence."

Mrs Hill said rising fuel costs were already hitting rural communities and the withdrawal of Blisland's only bus service was another hammer-blow for isolated villagers.

Cornwall councillor for the area, Mick Martin, has been working to provide the village with an alternative bus service.

"I'm in negotiation with Asda in Bodmin to see if it is prepared to stop in the village," he said. "People would have to phone through the day before with a request for it to come to Blisland, but it will be the company's head office which will need to make a decision like that, and I'm awaiting its reply.''

Urgency

Mr Martin is also planning to bring the issue up as a matter of urgency at a Cornwall Council community network meeting.

A Cornwall Council spokesman said the authority is trying to devise a scheme run by Age Concern that will provide a shopping bus service to Blisland twice a week.

"Unfortunately, the limited resources available mean that the replacement local bus service will only operate in the areas where demand for Corlink was highest," the spokesman said.

"We've been looking at ways of providing a service for people living in Blisland and are developing a scheme to enable the village to retain a two-day-a-week, demand-responsive shopping service into Bodmin. The scheme will be managed by Age Concern and consultation is currently taking place to identify the most popular days to operate the service," she said.