ROMSEY'S rural Cango bus service is being axed and replaced by a taxi-share service.

Launched just over a year ago and funded by government cash, the Romsey Cango bus will be taken off the area's roads for good at the end of this month and redeployed elsewhere in Hampshire.

County passenger transport chiefs say the demand-response service - introduced in rural villages around Romsey and Stockbridge in a bid to prevent isolation - failed to attract enough customers to keep the service running. Around 60 passengers a week use the service.

Some people dubbed the bus the "Can't Go" because users have to pre-book journeys and often would-be customers waiting at bus stops were refused entry on the bus because they had not phoned and requested it to stop beforehand.

Vice-chairman of Stockbridge Parish Council, Janet Whiteley, said she was not surprised the axe was about to fall on the Cango.

Mrs Whiteley said transport bosses did not plan the Cango service properly before introducing it.

"A hail-and-ride service would have been much more practical for commuters, rather than a pre-booking service," she said.

"The Cango was not as well-used as it might have been. I have been taking a neighbour to the eye department at Southampton General Hospital because she cannot get there. I am happy to do it, but there should be public transport or some other support service for healthcare needs," said the former borough mayoress.

Cango services operating in the Fordingbridge and Lymington areas will also be taken off the road.

A Hampshire County Council spokeswoman said: "Services have been reviewed and in view of the disappointing patronage figures on each service, they will be converted to services provided through taxi shares.

"This will retain an opportunity, albeit reduced, for people to travel in these areas, but at a more affordable level of subsidy in the long term. In terms of bus passengers, approximately 60 people a week use the advertised bus services, 10 people a day on average.

"The existing patronage would need to double to meet the benchmark for Cango services in Hampshire. Taking into account the recent performance of the service, this seems very unlikely.

"This, together with the operational difficulties of amending a combined contract, has led to the proposed change, especially in light of the current budget pressures."