MORE bus cuts are in en route to Moulton for the New Year.

From January 5 the last bus from Northwich town centre that stops in Main Road on weekdays and Saturdays will be at 5.30pm.

Currently the last number 31 and 31a bus from Watling Street is 5.40pm in the week and 6.15pm on Saturdays.

This follows a first round of cuts in April, which left residents without buses back from the town after 7pm or on Sundays or Bank Holidays.

The last number 37 bus from Northwich to Moulton will be at 9pm under the new timetable, but this only stops at Beehive Corner and does not come into the village.

Phil Sanders, Moulton parish clerk, told parish councillors at the latest meeting that he had spoken to bus company Arriva about the decision.

“Basicially they said they are commercial decisions, it’s as simple as that,” he said.

“They look at it in terms of how much they make and what subsidy they get and think ‘it doesn’t add up’.”

Councillors said they feared Moulton was losing services and asked if the 37 bus could be re-routed into the village centre.

Clr Arthur Wood said: “We’ve been told for years that they want to improve services and get more people on to buses.

“They want to encourage more people on public transport, then they take public transport away.”

Clr Tony Rigby, parish council chairman, said: “The issue remains that we still don’t think it’s right in rural communities that we should be having bus services restricted in this day and age.”