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A STORMY meeting of disgruntled residents delivered a blunt message to Stagecoach Cambus bosses - "We want our buses back."
More than 40 people attended the Haverhill meeting, organised by the St Edmundsbury Forum 55-Plus group.
Also present were Philip Norwell, Stagecoach commercial manager, Ian Gray, of Suffolk County Council's public transport group, MP Richard Spring and county councillor Maggie Lee.
One angry mother said she only discovered the bus her seven-year-old asthmatic daughter travelled to school on had been cancelled when it failed to turn up at the bus stop.
Others spoke of long waits for buses that arrived late or not at all, of not being informed when services were withdrawn, and of bus drivers who had to ask passengers which way to go.
There were also complaints that no buses ran early enough to get people to work in Haverhill, and speakers were heckled with cries of "we don't want explanations, we want buses."
Many people called for the re-instatement of the H4 service, which served three estates in Haverhill, while others asked for buses to Kedington to stop on the Chalkstone Estate.
Mr Norwell apologised for the lack of information about services withdrawn in December, but said the company had to find cash for improved drivers' pay and the routes were not viable.
He promised to look at questions put forward and offered to report back to a future meeting.
Mr Spring said after the meeting: "They have admitted the service has been very, very poor and that is not acceptable.
"It is not a public service and they do have to remain profitable. But any business operating in a community as important as this also has a responsibility to that community to listen carefully to what people are saying."
Postman Steve Ackhurst offered to act as a contact point for a Haverhill bus users' group. He can be contacted on (01440) 714416
PICTURE CAPTION: Off the buses . . . from left, Pamela O'Garvaigh, Forum 55 organiser, Ian Gray, Suffolk County Council, local MP Richard Spring, Ken Brooks, chairman of Forum 55, and Philip Norwell, Stagecoach Cambus commercial manager.