A 92-YEAR-OLD campaigner has criticised the bus service to and from Savernake Hospital, after buses stopped picking people up from the front of the hospital.

Sheila Moore has described the bus stop on the A4 as ‘filthy’ and believes that the stop should be maintained properly, as patients are now forced to walk down the hospital drive and wait by the busy road to be picked up.

Although the X22 service from Marlborough to Swindon still drops people off at the Savernake Hospital’s doors if a passenger is going to the hospital, it no longer pulls into the private road off Maurice Way to see if anyone is waiting to catch the bus home.

Staff working at the hospital also have to walk down to the road to catch the service.

Mrs Moore, 92, of St Martins, Marlborough said: “I go there about twice a week and the bus stop has become a tripping hazard. There are leaves everywhere and it has become quite messy.

“Wiltshire Council claims it is not its responsibility but why can’t it speak to whoever’s responsible and get it tidied up?

“There are friends who used to volunteer up there but not now. Because of the lack of regular buses they no longer do it.

“I am very active and use the buses to keep the service going. The bus no longer picks us up from the hospital, we have to walk around and it is very overgrown. I am unable to actually sit in the sheltered area now and I wouldn’t choose to because it is filthy.

“Marlborough is a nice place to live but it has to make sure that they sort out the services for people. Nobody is doing anything about it.”

Bus company Thamesdown, which operates the service, said that it ran the bus route on behalf of Wiltshire Council, which was behind any decisions to stop picking people up from the hospital reception.

The council said that the decision not to pick up passengers from inside the grounds was made because of the extra time it took drivers to pull back out onto the A4.

Patients who use the service have been advised to call the council on 0300 456 0100 to express any concerns they have about the change to the service.

Mrs Moore, who lives in York Place sheltered accommodation, moved to Marlborough to live closer to her son, who lives in Swindon, and is a frequent user of the X22.

As a child she was evacuated to Manton during the war, after being forced to leave her home in Portsmouth which suffered from bombings. After the war she grew up there with her grandparents and has since lived in both Chepstow and Swindon.

Mrs Moore believes that the bus stop on the A4 London Road must be cleaned to ensure that patients and passengers can wait comfortably for the bus in the future.