PENSIONERS have successfully fought a three-year campaign for a more frequent bus service.

More than 90 members of Oxford’s biggest senior citizens club signed a petition calling for the reintroduction of half-hourly services on the No.16 and No.16A route from Minchery Farm to Oxford.

And yesterday, they got a blast from the past as Stagecoach began running services every 30 minutes, three years after they took over the subsidised route and halved it to an hourly operation.

The move has been celebrated by members of the ‘Sweet Memories’ group, who use the buses to get to doctors’ appointments at the Donnington Health Centre in Iffley Road as well as their weekly meeting at the Gladiator Club in East Oxford.

Club organiser Christine Burden said: “We’re delighted, this is fantastic. A lot of my senior citizens had appointments at the Donnington Health Centre and, with just one bus running an hour, it was impossible to fit in travel with their appointments.

“People were really let down and felt they were going to be trapped in their homes when the bus service was cut.

“When we told them it was coming back at our coffee morning a big cheer went up.”

Mrs Burden, 63, of Meadow Lane, added: “I don’t think people realise that to senior citizens a good bus service is vital.

“They can’t afford to go by taxi to the doctor’s so it hit them really hard.

“This is going to be a big help to everyone.”

The group joined a similar campaign by 70 pensioners from Littlemore who took to the streets in protest after the changes left them with a two-hour round trip to the health centre.

Iffley Fields councillor David Williams said: “This is a big step forward for people simply by going back to the timetable they had before.

“For the elderly, standing at a bus stop for an hour is just out of the question and it’s taken three years to convince people it was a viable commercial service.”

Fellow ward councillor Elise Benjamin said: “This is fantastic news.

“It bridges a divide and is exactly the sort of out of city centre route that we desperately need.”

Stagecoach spokesman Chris Child said: “We’re very happy that these changes are being met with such positive support.

“These changes reflect the desire by residents for more direct buses and, having listened to passengers, we have been able to provide this.”