THE Connect2 bus that takes patients to the Royal United Hospital in Bath has not been scrapped, a decision has only been made to look at its budget, transport boss Horace Prickett has claimed.

During the heated debate on Monday at a meeting of Melksham town councillors, residents challenged Coun Prickett as to why the service, which is a life-line to them, is going to be axed.

Pensioner George Noke said: “Please be honest with us, tell us why the old people of Wiltshire no longer count?”

The town councillors and more than 20 members of the public heard that the future of the bus, also known as the Hopper, was still undergoing consultation as part of the £30m savings the council has to make and no final decision has yet been made.

Suggesting Coun Prickett was backtracking, Coun Jon Hubbard said: “I am delighted Mr Prickett is now performing a U-turn, nothing would make me happier but that decision was made by Wiltshire Council at the budget meeting on 24th of February; £130,000 was removed from the budget for the delivery of the service.”

Coun Prickett, who is Wiltshire Council's portfolio holder for transport, replied: “I disagree with you that decision has been made to cancel the service. The decision has been made to examine removing £130,000 from the budget of this service.”

Earlier this year A & G Minibuses in Warminster, who are contracted by Wiltshire Council to provide the transport, said they had been told the service would be cut in November.

On Tuesday Coun Prickett along with members of Wiltshire Council were meeting the Clinical Commissioning Group, the RUH and the NHS for a briefing on what can be done to find the money to run it. Coun Prickett failed to respond to the Gazette's requests for an update on the results of the meeting by the time we went to press.

The bus which transports passengers from North and West Wiltshire to the RUH was set up 15 years ago with 50 per cent of the funding coming from central government and the remaining amount from the NHS and Wiltshire Council. But since 2006 Wiltshire Council has been paying all the costs.

“The fact we have kept it running for the last nine years it to our credit,” Coun Prickett said. “We have supported the service, although in real terms hospital transport it is not a duty Wiltshire Council has to undertake.”

He also said Wiltshire Council normally subsidise a maximum grant of £3.50 per bus trip but they are paying £10.70 for Connect2 on top of the fair passengers pay.

He urged residents to speak to health groups and put pressure on GPs to get involved with the consultation to see what collectively can be done. If the service is cut, he added, it would not be until October.

He said: “The service in its current format will carry on until the autumn, although we don’t have exact dates yet.

“It was decided at full council that there would be a reduction of £130k from this budget. We are now working with our partners to do what we can before the service is discontinued in the autumn.”

The policy and resources committee put forward a motion urging Wiltshire Council to leave money in the budget for the service.