An 'outrageous' decision to axe four vital village bus services in the Brentwood area has led councillors and villagers to turn on Essex County Council.

Residents and councillors are up in arms after it emerged services 19, 20, 21 and 22 are all to be cut from January 22, 2001.

The bus services link villages to the north of Brentwood with Romford, Brentwood, Chelmsford and Epping and are seen as invaluable by pensioners, young mums and others who rely on them.

Passengers say the buses are essential for getting to shops, hospital appointments and many other services normally unavailable to them.

Chairman of Brentwood's Bus Task Force, Cllr David Kendall, said: "This is an outrageous decision by the county council. I have been contacted by a number of residents and they are very distressed and concerned about this.

"I am disgusted the county council can do this without any consultation. These are important services, particularly for elderly people."

One Kelvedon Hatch resident who is in her 50s said: "This is a very unfortunate situation. How are we going to get around? We are going to be left stranded in our homes.

"The council might claim not enough people use the bus, but last week there wasn't enough space to cope with the number of passengers!"

No other similar services have been cut in Essex, but Environmental Services Portfolio Holder Cllr Ron Williams who took the decision, feels his actions were justified.

He said the average number of passengers for the routes ranged from five to seven and the average level of subsidy per passenger ranged from £6 to £8 - around twice the level of any other route in the county.

Cllr Williams said: "The fundamental reason for the services being withdrawn is that not enough people are using them.

"We have to recognise that there are other routes in the county crying out for funding.

"The village link services are financed by the Rural Bus Grant and we have to satisfy the Government that we are using the money to the best advantage."

Cllr Kendall is, however, unimpressed, especially as county council officers failed to mention the threat to the services at a meeting of the Bus Task Force held three weeks ago.

He said: "This is an unbelievable decision, taken without any consultation and I have written to the county to ask them to review it.

"All the borough councillors and residents I have spoken to are shocked and angered by the news."

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.