SIR — How heartening it was to see so many people turn out in support of the petition on Saturday, October 8 in Minehead’s Wellington Square. I refer, of course, to the protest in the wake of the decision to cut three more bus routes at the end of the month.

The response in the Free Press last weekend shows how much people care about the fate of the elderly, carless and disabled people it would affect, especially in isolated villages.

We are all quick to apportion blame for this situation and some of us have seen it coming for a long time.

Chief among the causes is, of course, the cut-backs at government level to rural areas. These restrictions have been passed on to county councils who have no option but to make cuts to various services.

When pensioners were eventually given free bus passes earlier this century, it put the pressure on bus companies to try to make up the shortfall. More cuts to the funding they received at council level made things even more difficult.

Some time ago, when routes were under threat, I did write to say we pensioners would happily pay if services could be retained. Having been a driver, only since my 50s, I was at pains to use bus services as often as possible so that, when my time came to give up driving, there would, I hoped, still be services available. Well, that time has come and things are worse than ever.

When I first acquired a bus pass, at the age of 61, we had a system of annual payment – I think it was £10 – and your pass allowed you travel at half-fare. Back then, we had plenty of buses. One wonders why such a system cannot be reinstated.

However, one must hope that this protest will not go unheard and that a good result will come out of all the effort involved.

J Hand,