CHESHIRE East Council have been slammed for their newly proposed bus routes.

A bus service review which has now been sent for consultation would see the 42 service from Crewe to Congleton revised to be more infrequent.

The bus operates hourly through on weekdays Middlewich between 7.15am to 9pm, but the revised timetable would see services reduced to starting at 7.37am to finishing at 5.57pm.

If imposed, every Saturday would also see the service reduced to 90 minutes and end at 5.05pm.

The proposal has left some councillors angered over the lack of consideration for the town, particularly due to the potential effect on stopping residents being able to visit Leighton Hospital.

Cllr Mike Parsons, CEC ward member, said: “This is complete discrimination against Middlewich, I just don’t know what Cheshire east think people use buses for.

“How can towns such as Sandbach and Alsager get regular services up and down the area, yet Middlewich struggles to get a service that runs to Winsford on time.

“I was told that Middlewich represents one of the 15 key towns in the county, yet the way we’ve been treated on transport suggests the exact opposite.

“Not only will this affect people wishing to visit their families in hospital, but it will also be a detriment to students at college and anyone wishing to go to the cinema or stay out later.

“Where is the clean sheet of paper and fresh thinking on this matter? Where is the parity?”

As part of the medium term budget plan for CEC, it has set a saving target of £1.576 million from the supported bus budget to commence by April 2018.

The review, produced by CEC Highways and Infrastructure aims to ‘provide passenger services for residents most in need to enable access to essential services.

The review will now go through a 10 week period of public consultation.

It will be targeted at both bus users and non bus users and will look to engage the public with a wide range of methods.

The outcomes of the consultation will then inform a recommendation to cabinet in 2017 which will include a final supported bus network proposed for implementation.

If approved, the new supported bus network would be implemented from April 1, 2018.