AN Evesham pensioner has spoken of his fears over Worcestershire County Council's plans to axe a town bus service.

Reg Newell, aged 70, from Evendene Road, believes the scrapping of the 591 Cresswell service will cause problems for elderly residents. The route ran along Peewit Road and dropped Mr Newell, who suffers from arthritis and a cataract, just yards from his front door.

"Now the only service will be one which drops you outside the Cider Mill," he said.

"It's not so much a problem walking down to the bus stop, but walking uphill on the way back. I'm not alone in my concerns - we're all about the same age group around here.

"When I bought my property, I thought it was marvellous to have a bus service so close if it came to the point when I couldn't drive. The only way I got to know about the changes was when the bus driver told me to read the poster on the bus."

Ken Radbourne, from the Passenger Transport Group's customer services, confirmed the 591 service would stop from Sunday, May 29. Timetable changes for the 587 service, to be run by First, and alterations in frequency of the 561 Hampton route will also take effect then.

He added: "Other services nearby are being enhanced so that, overall, there is not a huge disruption of service. The difficulty we have is we don't have a bottomless pit of money to keep these services going.

"Some services that operate in housing estates are used by a majority of older customers. In many cases community transport will probably be able to provide them with a better service."

Information leaflets on the changes will be available from the Evesham Community Contact Centre.