VILLAGERS near Winchester say they have been ‘cut off’ following cuts to evening bus services.

The Spring service, which runs between Winchester, Kings Worthy and Springvale, has seen a reduction in its timetable from January 4.

The last evening bus from the city is at 7.09pm, which commuter Dan Conroy, 45, a managing director of a engineering consultancy, of London Road, says leaves those getting off the train from London Waterloo stuck.

“If you want to leave Waterloo after 6pm you can’t get a bus back in to Kings Worthy,” he said.

“The late bus was always full. There were loads of people and there was always a queue at the bus stop. But they said it was empty.”

He said although commuters are encouraged to cycle, walk or use public transport to make the city greener, they are being left with little alternative but to drive.

“It just seems the absolute inverse of what we are being encouraged to do,” he added.

Other residents say the lack of evening service means youngsters with late shifts have to rely on parents or friends to give them lifts.

Stella Bowling, 52, a childminder, of Springvale Road, said many people work from 10am until 7pm, but are often unable to make the 7.09pm bus from City Road.

“It’s quite common to work those hours these days,” she said.

“Now youngsters have no choice but to rely on other people to get home, and it takes away their independence.”

She said the service has been reduced by an hour and a half, and is cutting Kings Worthy off.

Businesswoman Sue Tinkler, 50, of Bull Farm, said she is worried about the effect on her self-catering accommodation business, because evening buses into the city now stop at 7.27pm from Kings Worthy.

“One of the validations about not having facilities in Kings Worthy is because we have them right on our doorstep in Winchester but you can only get into town in the evenings if you have a car now,” she said.

“The parking is so expensive in Winchester if young people can use the bus that will also help traffic congestion.”

The two evening services were cut after the county council ended its funding.

On the Spring timetable it says evening services “will no longer run due to a low number of passengers”.