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A health worker has launched a petition to stop a popular bus route being axed. John Taylor regularly travels to work on the Beestons 236 service from Haverhill to Sudbury. However, changes to the route from Monday mean he will no longer be able to do this.

Mr Taylor, 38, of Claydon Close, Castle Camps, said the route, which was used by people making shopping trips to Haverhill, also provided an important link to Ipswich, Colchester and Chelmsford.

Mr Taylor said: "I would not bother if there was hardly anyone useing it, but it always seems to be quite full.

"I feel these changes are ill-considered and will cause inconvenience to passengers, many of whom will be forced to abandon the buses and use cars insted.

"The changes involve axing the 12.45 Haverhill to Sudbury bus which is a well used service particularly by pensioners and young mothers.

"Between 10.45am and 2.50pm there is now no service between Haverhill and Sudbury. The 5.10pm Sudbury to Haverhill bus has also been axed meaning the last bus back from Sudbury will be at 4:10pm.

"Anyone working in Sudbury will no longer be able to use the buses to travel to and from work."

Tom Munsen, operations manager to Beestons of Hadleigh, said the decision to cut the service has been an economic one based on low usage.

He said: "It is unfortunate, but if you don't use it you lose it. We don't get any subsidies on the route and with the price of diesel and other costs we cannot afford to run the buses empty. We have seen elsewhere that 1,000 people sign a petition, but only two of them actually use it."