I am writing to you as a recent visitor to Wiltshire. My wife and I have been staying at an excellent guesthouse near Marlborough.

On Saturday, October 5, we had planned to go to Avebury by bus then walk back along the Ridgeway.

We never made it to Avebury because when we arrived in Marlborough, the bus deposited us at a tyre depot.

This was because a fair had taken over the High Street and the bus stops had been moved. The notice informing passengers about the change, which I understand was produced by Wiltshire Council, was as confusing as it was possible to be. The notice read: “Most buses will pick up and set down at the bus stops adjacent to ATS in London Road.”

Common sense dictates that intending passengers would want to know which buses, their destinations, and which side of the very busy main road each would depart from. The notice then went on to say that “the town service (217) and C2W Line 3 will operate from the temporary stop in New Road.”

What we wanted to know was, where our bus to Avebury would leave? To us C2W could have been a chemical formula. We found New Road, hoping that some coherent information might be available there. In fact, there was not even a bus stop there. We asked a few locals, but they were as confused by the notices as we were, and one elderly lady with a lot of shopping was very anxious about getting home.

Eventually we gave up and caught a bus to Swindon. On it, we overheard two passengers comparing their aborted travel plans caused by the lazily produced notice. From Swindon, we went on a very comfortable bus to Oxford, where we spent the money that we would have spent in Wiltshire.

When we returned to the guesthouse and told our host, she exclaimed: “Oh no! Not again!” and was very apologetic, although it had not been her fault. She has very kindly offered me the use of her office to write this letter.

I believe that the fair that occupied the High Street has done so at this time of year for nearly 400 years. Therefore, it is not as though the need for information for bus passengers would have come as a surprise to those responsible at Wiltshire Council.

Earlier in the week, we had walked along the Kennet and Avon Canal into Berkshire. There we obtained a very well produced compilation of bus timetables for that area. There appears to be no such help for travellers in Wiltshire, despite, I am sure, of the fact that Wiltshire is far more dependent on revenue from tourism than Berkshire?

In our retirement, we have done a lot of travelling and intend to do more, and in spite of encountering the highest rail fares in the world, we want to return to Britain. Will we return to Wiltshire to spend our money here? Probably not.

Tim and Judy Monkhouse, Hillside Avenue, Hamilton, North Island, New Zealand.