CAMPAIGNERS fighting to get their village bus service back have taken their cause to the internet.

They have put a video online showing the dark and unpaved walk from Ardington to the busy A417 Reading Road where they now have to flag the X32 down.

Thames Travel said not enough Ardington and Lockinge passengers were getting on its hourly Go Ahead service between Wantage to Didcot, and stopped picking up villagers on December 11.

Oxfordshire County Council now provides five return buses to the villages on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and it also runs three on Saturdays.

Villagers can flag down the Go Ahead bus on the Reading Road but campaigners say it is too busy and dangerous.

Will Smith, 22, of Columbia Way, Grove, who takes the bus to work at the Sugar and Spice bakery in Ardington, is shown walking to catch the bus in the YouTube clip.

He said: “I did this video to show how dangerous the road is for both the old and young. We thought it would be good to show visually how bad it is.”

He said he hoped the video would raise awareness and prevent an accident.

He added: “It is not that inconvenient for me but it is dangerous.”

Cameraman Greg Birks, 16, of Larkdown, Wantage, said: “It is unsafe near the road.

“You can put it in words, but you can’t see how dangerous it is unless you see it in a video.”

Earlier this month, a petition with more than 300 signatures calling for the service to be reinstated was presented to Oxfordshire County Council.

Karen Smith, 48, of High Street, Ardington, said the video was a great way of showing everyone how bad the 10-minute walk to the main road was.

She said: “It’s done to illustrate that it is not a nice journey for anyone to take.

“Getting on to the A417 from the village; there are no footpaths and no streetlights. It is a very busy, dangerous piece of road to cross if you are a child or an adult.

“The whole thing seems absolutely ludicrous.”

She added: “During the first week of the new hail and ride service, the bus has failed on several occasions to stop when individuals, including children have tried to flag it down.”

The bus users have also set up a Facebook page called ‘Save the 32 bus for Ardington and Lockinge’.

Didcot Girls’ School pupil Matilda Woodhill, of Church Street, now has to get a lift to Wantage every morning so she can catch a bus to school.

The 14-year-old said: “It is horrible because it is dark and there is no pavement. I am stranded in a village where none of my friends live.”

No-one from the county council or Thames Travel responded to the Oxford Mail’s questions on the issue.

  • To see the video visit youtube.com/watch?v=vVSqTnCVCsw&feature=youtube_gdata_player