PEOPLE living in rural villages on the outskirts of Oxford said they will become isolated if their bus service is cut.

The number 44 bus service is the only public bus which links the villages of Bayworth, Boars Hill and Sunningwell with Oxford and Abingdon.

But now after Oxfordshire County Council leaders agreed to cut subsidies to 118 mainly rural routes to save £3.7m across Oxfordshire, users have said losing the service will harm the community.

Maggie Rouse, of Quarry Road, Bayworth, uses the number 44 every day to get to Abingdon, where she works with adults who have learning difficulties.

The 54-year-old said she would have to walk “nearly two miles along country roads with no pavements, or lights” to a stop at Lodge Hill to get a different bus.

She added: “I live alone and have no family that live locally, and I do not drive.

“I use this bus service on a daily basis and it is a lifeline for myself and other people in the community, I have no other way to get to work.

“It’s not just me, though, because there is a lot of elderly people that use the service.

“I understand they need to make cuts, but this is going to be nightmare and affect people’s lives.”

Ideas for a community bus service have been floated, but are in the very early stages.

All bus subsidies in the county could be cut to save £70m over the next four years. The county council has already made savings totalling £290m.

The council said it decided to cut the subsidy to the number 44 service, which is provided by Thames Travel, after it appeared to carry “relatively small passenger volumes on all journeys”.

The council added: “It is appreciated that this service caters for several villages that have no other public transport nearby.

“Lower-cost methods of provision will be investigated.”

It is understood the full effects of the bus subsidies will hit the villages around June.

Sunningwell Parish Council chairman Paul Wooldridge said residents would be “severely disadvantaged” and isolated if the service went. He added: “I do share the concerns that a lot of people have. Not everybody has a car and some people who have cars do not want to drive in Oxford. Sunningwell and the surrounding villages will feel isolated.

“It’s a great little service for people to get from Oxford to Abingdon.

“We are looking in to perhaps running a community-based service, but nothing has been finalised.”

County cabinet member for transport David Nimmo Smith earlier told the Oxford Mail that the decision to end all bus route subsidies was necessary, but one “we would all prefer not to make”.

Thames Transit declined to comment.