A SPECIAL bus service for vulnerable people isolated by the axing of routes in two communities started yesterday.

Residents and ward councillors launched campaigns when Thamesdown Trans-port cut its service 21, for Penhill and Pinehurst, and service 23, which ran through Coleview.

Thamesdown said its changes, in January, were needed because the services were not commercially viable. But critics said the move restricted access to vital services.

Now the council is to pay £14,994 for the bus firm to provide an off-peak service for Coleview and the Penhill Valley for up to a year while long-term solutions are sought.

Jim Hayes, 75, of Penhill, who used the 21 bus, said he was delighted with the move as pensioners and mothers with buggies had struggled to make it up the steep hill to catch another bus.

Mr Hayes, who had been forced to use a taxi, said: “It’s wonderful for people living in the valley that cannot get up that hill. I saw a young lady recently with children in pushchairs in all that rain trying to get up that hill. I felt that was scandalous.

“It’s going to be very, very important for me to get around. I won’t have to get so many taxis. Let’s hope we can keep the service going.”

Mr Hayes suggested that other local services could be diverted in the long term.

Bill Gulliver, 71, of Corsham Road, who used to use the old 21 service, said residents hoped to set up a group to campaign for the full service to be reinstated, gathering passenger number data to back up their fight.

He said: “The people are happy they’ve got some way of getting up the hill. But five services isn’t enough. People have said ‘oh, divert the 17’ but that’s not what we want. What we want is the old service back as we had, and that’s two services an hour.”

The new 21 runs between Penhill and Stratton Park on Mondays to Saturdays at off-peak times via Ramsbury Avenue, Pinehurst, Gorse Hill, Ocotal Way (Tesco), Fleming Way, Greenbridge Retail Park, Covingham Square and Coleview.

Council leader Rod Bluh said: “The commercial decisions about bus routes aren’t made by the council, they’re made by Thamesdown, which although owned by the council isn’t controlled by the council by law. We’re concerned about various routes not being profitable which is why we’re putting in place this solution to give us more time to look at the overall strategy.”