A HOST of bus services are being axed across the borough – while some villages including Warmingham will be left cut off.

At a meeting on Tuesday, members of Cheshire East Council’s cabinet unanimously voted to slash the number of supported bus services – although the cuts are not as severe as first intended.

The changes mean some services – including the 32 from Sandbach to Crewe – will stop running, while the 6 and 6E from Brookhouse to Leighton Hospital, and the 31 from Crewe to Northwich will no longer run in the evenings.

But CEC has agreed to axe fewer services than it did before consultation, while some buses earmarked for the chop could yet be saved.

Cllr Paul Bates, CEC cabinet member for finance and communication, said: “We face challenging financial constraints and we recognise that some of our residents will be affected by a reduction in services.

“We have had to make some tough decisions, but we feel that we have met many of the concerns expressed in the consultation feedback by re-configuring some routes and retaining the subsidy on routes where the removal of services would have resulted in hardship.

“I want to thank all those people who took the trouble to contribute to the consultation, and we would like to see residents making greater use of our buses, where practicable, so that car dependency across the borough is reduced.”

CEC expects that the changes, which are expected to come into effect no sooner than April 2018, will save it more than £1 million.

The council cannot confirm that figure until the tendering process is complete, although it expects the savings will be less than the £1.6 million it first intended to make before consultation in the summer, when 3,959 responses were submitted.

The dial-a-ride ‘little bus’ will be available for residents who cannot access a scheduled service – although the fleet will be reduced from nine to five.

To see the revised supported bus network, visit cheshireeast.gov.uk/busreview