HOSPITAL staff who live in Kidlington are fighting to keep a recently-provided bus link to their workplaces running.

The Hospital Link No 700 service to the John Radcliffe, Churchill and Nuffield hospitals in Headington was extended to serve Kidlington in the summer.

But operator RH Buses says not enough passengers are using the service and the extra mileage has made the route unreliable.

RH has given notice that the 700 will revert to its original terminus, at the Water Eaton park-and-ride site on the edge of Kidlington, from Monday, December 13.

The decision has upset hospital staff, who now face having to revert to catching two buses to get to work, and paying almost double the fare.

Debbie Franklin, 37, of Morton Close, a medical secretary at the JR, said she would have to pay about £210-a-year more on fares if the Kidlington extension was withdrawn. She said: “It’s an invaluable bus for us and invaluable for elderly and disabled people who want to travel to the hospital. The Oxford hospitals can’t cope with parking and we had our parking permits taken away.

“Then we get offered these bus routes, that are really handy. It’s just got better and then they’re taking it away again. I think they should reconsider.

“Even if they just kept it at peak times or charged a bit more, we would consider anything reasonable, if it meant it didn’t stop altogether.”

Nicola O’Mahoney, a home care assistant at the JR, said the cost of her trip to work would double to £6.

Mrs O’Mahoney, 44, of South Avenue said: “This will mean key workers trying to get to work from Kidlington won’t really be served by anything.”

Kidlington and Yarnton county councillor Maurice Billington said: “It’s a marvellous service for the staff and public, and we shall fight tooth and nail to keep it.”

The county council provides a £76,000-a-year subsidy for the route between Water Eaton and the hospitals but said it would struggle to fund the Kidlington extension, which RH runs on a commercial basis.

Ian Hudspeth, the council’s cabinet member for growth and infrastructure, said: “There does seem to be a significant number of people who go from Kidlington to the JR and this is an ideal service for them. I would be more than happy to get involved to see if there’s a way forward.”

Dilwyn Roberts, operations director of RH Buses, said: “We gave the route a go, because people said they wanted the connection, but because it’s losing us money and the rest of the route has become unreliable, we have had to take action.”