BUS bosses have defended changing the route of their main service between Dulverton and Taunton after Brushford residents claimed they had been left stranded.

Up until two weeks ago, Brushford was served by 12 buses a day via the Buses of Somerset's Service 25.

But a change to the return bus route from Taunton to Dulverton now cuts out Brushford altogether meaning residents have to travel to nearby Dulverton via either Taunton or Bampton.

Bus chiefs said a new Service 398 now ran between Brushford and Dulverton at 9.19am, 1.36pm and 6.09pm, with travellers able to use the hourly Service 25 to make the return trip home.

John Organ, of Station Road, Brushford, called for an urgent re-think of the changes to Service 25 and branded it "an apparent gross error of judgement".

He said villagers had been particularly angered by a lack of consultation about the changes and said there appeared to be no logic in the decision.

"What can only be described as a ludicrous situation is that, in effect, a resident of Brushford requiring to visit Dulverton, whether it be for a medical or dental appointment or whatever, now has to board a bus to Bampton, then wait for some 20 minutes in Bampton to board an ongoing bus to Dulverton.

"The former journey covered less than two miles and took just five minutes.

"The change will cover about 12 miles and take nearly an hour!"

While the original Service 25 route called in to Brushford on both the outgoing and return trip to and from Taunton, the revised route only stops in the village on the outgoing leg.

The return bus from Taunton still stops in Shillingford and Bampton but now stays on the A396 and turns into Dulverton via Machine Cross and Jury Hill, missing out Brushford in the process.

A Buses of Somerset spokesman said the change had been necessary to maintain service punctuality and advised passengers to use Service 398 to get from Brushford to Dulverton.

The spokesman said: "It was done to improve the reliability of the service by cutting out part of the route in Dulverton, namely Barns Close.

"A new Service 398 does still run from Brushford to Dulverton at 09.19, 13.36 and 18.09 so customers can use this service to travel directly to Dulverton and return on The Buses of Somerset's Service 25 departing at half past each hour

"It is also possible to shop in Bampton as there would still be an hourly service departing from Brushford at 35 minutes past each hour and returning from Bampton at 11 minutes past each hour via Dulverton."

Mr Organ said he believed the new route involved a potentially dangerous turning for bus drivers on the A396 at Exebridge and said Brushford had lost a lifeline.

"Many residents have reminded me there are unlikely to be any passengers joining the bus on the altered route, indeed, a driver can expect to see more pheasants on that stretch of road than people.

"May I please request that this matter be reviewed as a matter of extreme urgency and that an obvious mistake and an apparent gross error of judgement can be rectified and the service can be restored to its original route," Mr Organ said.