TRAFFIC calming works, in which road humps have been made too high for buses to drive over, have meant that a section of bus route in Liskeard cannot be used.

The Liskeard and District Omnibus Company has announced that, until the humps in the traffic calming measures on West Street and Old Road are lowered, their buses will no longer be able to use these roads.

There are fears that the new low floor vehicles on the Company's routes would be damaged if they passed over them. The decision means that at the moment bus passengers in Allen Vale are without a service.

The bus company has pointed out that it has been in consultation with Cornwall county council over the works, carried out by contractors.

Bob Hobbs, the Liskeard and District managing director, said: 'The council consulted with us before putting in the humps, as they knew we operated low floor vehicles along these roads, and the traffic calming measures proposed were supposedly designed to allow this. However, after the first one was put in on Thursday August 23, it rapidly became apparent that they had been installed correctly. They are far too high, and our buses are unable to pass over them without severely damaging the underside of the vehicle.'

Shopping

The new-type buses have been brought in as they mean passengers only have to access one step to get on the bus, making it particularly easy for the elderly, or those carrying heavy shopping or a child in a pushchair.

Mr Hobbs has been in contact with the county, but says further humps have been installed since then, all of these out of specification.

He says all the humps will need to be altered to permit buses to revert to their old route.

Joe Lynch, areas officer for the National Federation of of Bus Users and a Liskeard resident, said: 'I am very disappointed and surprised that this work should have been carried out so badly. I have been in contact with Cornwall county council's director for planning transportation and estates and hope that this can be resolved very quickly without inconveniencing Liskeard bus passengers even further. I would hope that the traffic calming works yet to be carried out elsewhere in Liskeard are properly monitored to avoid a similar situation in the future.'

Elderly

Local resident, Malcolm Thomas, said: 'I feel that stopping the bus service as a result of putting in speed ramps is a retrograde step. A number of elderly people in this area use the service and it is now a problem for many of them to get into town or further afield. Even car drivers are now driving to town in the opposite direction, on the main road.'

One bus user and local resident explained: 'You can pick up the bus from the bottom of Gypsy Lane, on the main road, but you have to walk there in the first place, and when you're coming back from town with your shopping, walking up the hill is not really appreciated. A lot of elderly people use the bus service, Allen Vale is like a rabbit warren and people from all over only have to go to the main through road to get the bus. Now they have to get to Gypsy Lane.'

She continued: 'The bus service was taken off just like that, regular users were given no notice at all to make alternative arrangements. In my view, the speed ramps should have been done correctly, at the right height, so buses can still get over them, in the first place.'