“THINK of the users, not the money.”

That’s the cry from angry Coxford residents hoping to drive transport bosses into a quick u-turn over plans to scrap a “crucial” bus route.

First says it will end its Number One service on Sunday, October 31 – cutting off Adanac Park, Lower Brownhill Road and Olive Road from its network.

The company says the decision to cut the route, announced last month, is due to a lack of use.

However residents in Coxford say it will leave elderly and disabled users “cut off” from the hospital and the city centre.

Catherine Severn, of Alder Road, suffers from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

She said: “I have breathing problems and I know a lot of people around here who have breathing problems.

“It’s hard enough just to get from my house to this bus stop without having to walk even further.”

“I’ve lived here 30 years and we’ve always had a bus service and I think it’s wrong to stop it.”

Another to comment on the plans to scrap the Number One was Jo Ingham, who uses the bus everyday to get to work.

The self-employed tattoo artist, who runs city centre salon Studio 13, said: “This is not right at all.

“There are lots of people who use this service to get to work.

“I could get the 12 service but it would an extra 50 minutes to get into the city.”

The group met yesterday to discuss the cuts, along with Coxford’s Councillors Against Cuts.

Councillor Don Thomas, said: “We have our fair share of senior bus user in our area

“Not that long ago a bus service was just that- a bus service- the profitable routes help carry the not so profitable routes.

“That was a real service, for all not just for those who happen to live near a profitable bus route”

Dervla McKay, head of operations at First Southampton, said: “As so few passengers used the unique bus stops on Service 1 the difficult decision to stop operating the route has been made.”

She added users could access the nearby Services Three or 12.