THE anxiety of local people regarding the axing of local bus services in Wiltshire will nowhere be felt more acutely than here in Corsham with the news that our number 10 bus service which serves the town centre will go.

On its circular route to the town centre this bus serves outlying villages, several large housing estates, industrial estates, The Cotswold Centre, the huge MoD complex and schools. It is the only bus that passes the one doctors' surgery that we have in Corsham and is also the only bus that passes the brand new Springfield Campus which houses the leisure centre, swimming pool, library, Neighbourhood Policing Team plus a lot of our local community groups meet there.

Residents living outside the town centre without a car will effectively be cut off from everything. Taking a taxi on a regular basis is unaffordable unless your income matches that of a county council executive.

These residents will either have to do a weekly shop online or rely on friends or family to take them shopping which means that they will head straight out of Corsham to the nearest large supermarket where everything can be bought under one roof with free car parking, a cafe, and a public convenience.

Those of us who can make it into Corsham town centre and are "caught short" will have to resort to using a quiet side street as a convenience or, as Wiltshire Council suggests, asking a local business if you can use their facilities due to the threatened closure of the only public toilet in the town centre.

This all comes at a time when we are trying to reduce traffic, promote our town centre and encourage people to shop locally. It is interesting to note that on page 64 Gazette & Herald on January 21 Sue Stockley, the president of Corsham Chamber of Commerce, states: "The way we shop is changing in all town centres including Corsham. Every pound we spend online is one pound less spent in our local shops." It is no good extolling the beauty of the town centre and the variety of shops while doing nothing about parking charges and loss of essential services which will put both visitors and locals off from visiting our beautiful town in the future.

Added to this, a look online finds no outcry regarding these cuts or fighting spirit from Corsham Town Council, Corsham Chamber of Commerce or our town councillors in an effort to retain these vital services, given the impact that these cuts will have on local residents and traders.

I suspect that, Corsham Town Council et al will continue drinking tea and fiddling about in the Town Hall while Corsham goes under instead of speaking up and doing something for all of us who live and work here.

All this talk in the past of "things going on behind the scenes" won't wash any more, we want some action and we need it fast!

LORRAINE HATT, Hatton Way, Corsham