ON July 20, you reported the collapse of GHA Coaches.

Those of us who rely on the No 82 bus service between Chester sand Northwich have been shortchanged by the substitute service provided by Arriva.

GHA ran a half-hourly service on weekdays; two-hourly on Sundays.

Arriva now run an hourly service with no buses on Sunday.

One appreciates that the traffic in Chester and Northwich can make it difficult to keep closely to a timetable, but Arriva’s punctuality has proved to be much worse than GHA’s, in my experience.

Twice I have used buses that were an hour late; one never appeared at all and I had to call a taxi.

This makes it difficult to use the bus to keep an appointment.

To be sure of getting there in time, one prudently takes an earlier bus.

This was not too bad with GHA since it meant wasting only half an hour, but with Arriva’s hourly service, it means wasting an hour.

I urge the council to make Arriva follow GHA’s timetable and to be far more punctual.

It is infuriating that HMRC should force GHA into administration without a thought for the consequences.

Buses are vital to those of us who cannot drive because of age or poverty.

The casual closure of GHA was bound to cause trouble for this section of the community as well as for commuters.

A C P Pugh Northwich