COMMUTERS and students have been dealt a major blow after a decision to stop a bus service between Lechlade and Swindon.

The number 64 bus service, which transports Lechlade residents into Swindon for work and college and back, before stopping at Carterton, will cease operating on July 20.

Oxfordshire County Council has withdrawn the subsidy it provides to Pulhams & Sons to operate the service, leaving the bus company unable to continue its current timetable.

The last bus from Swindon to Lechlade currently departs at 5.45pm, ideal for those who study at college or work in the town, but once the changes come into effect, the last bus home will be the number 74, which departs an hour earlier at 4.45pm.

India Palmer, a Swindon College student who lives in Lechlade, said she is ‘shocked and upset’.

“I have not passed my driving test yet and absolutely rely on this bus to get to and from college,” said India, 18.

“I am now left wondering how on earth I will get there in September with only four bus routes [per day].

“I would like to know from one of these bus companies, how the elderly and us students are going to get to Swindon? It’s disgusting that they have done this.”

A spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council said: “The council is withdrawing the subsidy it provides for the Oxfordshire part of the 64 service.

“In November 2015, the council made the decision to withdraw bus subsidies to 118 bus routes in Oxfordshire. Subsidies will end on 20 July 2016.

“This difficult decision was taken as part of huge financial savings required across all county council services. As a result of reductions in the money the council receives from central Government and rising demand for essential services such as social care for vulnerable adults and children, we are currently in the process of having to save £361m between 2010 and 2018.

“More than 90 per cent of Oxfordshire’s bus routes are commercially operated and are unaffected by this decision.”

However, the 64 service is one of the unfortunate 10 per cent, with operators Pulhams & Sons confirming they will “no longer be able to continue” with the service without the council subsidy.

A spokesman said: “I can confirm that we are no longer able to continue with the 64 service after July 20; this is due to the withdrawal of county council subsidies.”

India also said she contacted the operators who told her that the route was not taking enough passengers, which she disputed saying “the bus is nearly full every time I use it.”

When asked about this, the Pulhams spokesman said: “Patronage levels do contribute to the funding of the service but as we only receive a very small amount of additional funding from local authorities, the route does rely on the subsidy.”