WE are shocked at the short-sighted proposals by Oxfordshire County Council to make further cuts to rural public transport services in Oxfordshire.

The county council currently only spends around two per cent of its highways and transport budget on public transport. Further reductions in the frequency of rural bus routes, saving only a few hundred thousand pounds out of an around £53m budget, would fatally wound essential services affecting the most vulnerable in our communities such as the elderly, the infirm and those unable to afford a car. It will also increase the number of cars on county roads, adding to congestion and already high levels of air pollution in some parts of the county.

Any attempts by the county to defend these cuts on economic grounds fails to acknowledge the proven negative impact on the local economy that the loss of rural bus services causes. Meanwhile, the health problems associated with increased air pollution and the increased isolation that such cuts will cause will put additional financial pressure on both the NHS and social services.

We are asking the Prime Minister, as a local MP, to consider the folly of these cuts and stop them before it is too late.

KEITH TAYLOR MEP, Green MEP for the South East Region

STUART MACDONALD, Witney Parliamentary Candidate

MARIZIO FANTATO, Witney Constituency Green Party