A CALL for a village bus service to be reinstated on Saturdays has been made in the House of Commons by MP Fiona Bruce after passengers said they wanted to end their week-end isolation.

The 319 Goostrey via Holmes Chapel to Sandbach bus was saved from the axe more than two years ago when Cheshire East Council wanted to introduce controversial cuts in services.

But the cost of victory for save-the-bus campaigners was the loss of the bus on Saturdays, one of the most popular days of the week for shopping and going out to meet friends and relatives.

Now, following the reintroduction of an hourly service for the 130 bus between Macclesfield and Handforth via Alderley Edge and Wilmslow, including Saturdays, by the same operator D&G Bus, Mrs Bruce has taken up the case again, with a plea for the 319 to have its weekend service restored.

"I hope Cheshire East Council will respond to the many calls I have had from constituents to make funding available for local buses," she said in The Commons.

"Campaigning residents have saved the 319 Goostrey to Sandbach via Holmes Chapel bus, but may I put in a plea on behalf of residents for the reinstatement of the Saturday service?"

The bus, which was operated by Tomlinson Travel until last year, serves Goostrey, Holmes Chapel, Twemlow Green, Brereton, Cranage, Allostock as well as parts of Sandbach as the 316 Cookesmere Lane circular service.

The withdrawal of the Saturday service has meant anyone without alternative transport, including many elderly pensioners, is left isolated from early Friday afternoon until the first bus on Monday morning.

It was saved from the axe after a combined campaign and protests by Goostrey and Holmes Chapel parish councils and users, backed by Mrs Bruce.

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A Goostrey resident said: "The loss of the Saturday service was a bitter blow because that is the one day when people liked to go out not only to shop but to socialise with friends.

“For retired people and especially for those living alone, it is a long weekend to be housebound from just after lunchtime on Friday until first thing on Monday. That is the biggest complaint by passengers on the bus.”