BASINGSTOKE bus operator Stagecoach has been accused of putting profit ahead of people by cutting an essential bus service from next month.

The company is planning to axe part of the number five service which takes customers from Popley to Basingstoke hospital.

From Sunday, October 31, the service will terminate at West Popley.

The company says the route is not cost-effective and it cannot afford to keep it going.

But Basingstoke councillor Jane Frankum said Stagecoach was providing an essential service for people in Popley and Oakridge who depend on the bus for work or to get to hospital appointments.

She said: "Stagecoach is going to take out one little bit of the number five service, but the problem is that tiny little bit goes to the hospital. Obviously there is a social need, so I think that Stagecoach is going to try to get a subsidy from the county council."

The route is already heavily subsidised by Hampshire council, which pays Stagecoach to run buses in the evenings and on Sundays. Cllr Frankum believes the move to cut the weekly daytime service is a cynical ploy to force more cash out of the council.

However, Edward Hodgson, commercial manager for Stagecoach South, said the simple reason for the cutback was because the service is losing money.

He said: "The basic fact is that very few people are actually using the leg that goes to the hospital. We review our services regularly and, unfortunately, we found that this part of the journey was not paying its way.

"The situation is that the vast majority of services are run on a commercial basis and as such they need to make money."

Mr Hodgson said that any decision to offer a subsidy on the route was a decision for the county council, adding: "Clearly Hampshire council will take a look at the situation and then it's a decision only they can take."

Alternative services to the hospital are available, but they are less frequent or require passengers to go into town and change.

Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate Paul Harvey has also slammed the company for letting people down.

He said: "It is wrong for a private monopoly like Stagecoach to be slashing services that local people rely on. We will fight this every step of the way because people need local bus services."