SIR — I am writing regarding the proposed axing of the 100 Minehead bus.

If this service is cut, many elderly people will become unable to get around Minehead. They will be unable to visit their doctor's surgery, the library, meet friends or do their shopping.

Cutting the bus service will cause the elderly, who currently use the service in great numbers, to become housebound and isolated as many have no other means of transport.

My mother is one of them; an elderly person with a heart condition who does not drive and relies on the bus.

If the bus was withdrawn she, like many others who use the service, would not be able to perform any activities and would, basically, become housebound and isolated.

We have to wonder if any thought has been given to the consequences of axing the service.

For not only will it cause the isolation of many people, it will also cause an increase in car traffic and parking needs in Minehead.

Many bus riders probably own cars and will, undoubtedly, use those cars to do the activities they currently do by bus, thus causing an increased traffic burden in town.

DRT - demand responsive transport - is a good idea in principle but it binds a person to be at a particular place at a particular time. It must be booked at least 24 hours in advance which does not allow for spontaneity or independence.

And, even booking 24 hours in advance, there's no guarantee that one's required timeslot will be available. How is a person meant to visit their doctor under these conditions?

What will happen when all the people who currently use the bus are forced to use the DRT? How far in advance will a person have to book their ride? Two, three, seven days ahead? The idea of the DRT instead of the 100 bus is really not viable.

There has also been a claim that the route of the 100 service is covered by local buses 10 and 39. Not true. Neither of these routes cover the residential areas of Minehead where many of the elderly live; neither the 10 nor 39 is a town or neighbourhood bus.

Finally, a 'bus service' is meant to be just that - a 'service'. It is not meant to be a money making "commercially viable" venture.

We pay our Council Taxes for services, services which seem to be very quickly and regularly disappearing.

We all understand about cutting waste, but how can services for the most vulnerable in the community be considered waste?

C and M Palmer,

West Street,

Minehead.