PUBLIC transport users have hit out at Newport Bus over route changes.

Residents from across the city, particularly the Woodlands area in Malpas, are angry with route changes that will see the 17 and 18 buses redirected and no longer travelling to Montgomery Road and Claremont from Sunday, October 30.

Hazel Robling, 82, of Alanbrooke Avenue, said: “It’s dreadful, I don’t want to lose the buses.

“Without them, we’d have a long walk uphill to a bus stop.”

Mrs Robling said that she has a 90-year-old friend who recently had a major operation, meaning she can’t walk far.

She said that the buses are her “lifeline” and that without them she would be “completely housebound”.

Maria Nicholls, 50, of Barrie Gardens, in the Gaer, said that she’s unhappy about the changes to the 2A and 2C services, with the last service leaving the city centre at 7.45pm from October 30.

“I finish work at 8.30pm and don’t drive, which means that either I’ll have to spend my wages on taxis, my husband will have to pick me up or I’ll have to walk in the darkness for half an hour,” she said.

“I’m stuck, I’m angry.”

John Hillman, 52, of Browning Close, also in the Gaer, who is a wheelchair user, said that the changes will mean that him he and other people in the Gaer will be potentially cut off due to the changes.

A Newport Bus spokesman said the changes had been made to “ensure the continued viability of the whole network”.

He said: “Newport Transport appreciates that some of our customers will be disappointed with these changes but the company can no longer support services and journeys that do not even cover operating costs.

“The company wish to thank our customers for their continued loyalty and understanding in difficult economic circumstances for the bus industry.”

For all the changes, visit newportbus.co.uk/announcements/network-changes-commencing-sunday-30th-october-2016