Chris Cave welcomes saving the Coasthopper but is unhappy with the 'decimation' of the Number 5 bus service.

I very much welcomed reading in last week's edition that the Coasthopper bus has been saved, and indeed extended by Sanders. But what I have not welcomed is the company's decimation of the 5 service between Sheringham and Holt, badly affecting people in Upper Sheringham, Holt Road and Greenlands Park area, including the High School which Sanders did not even warn in advance.

Mondays to Fridays there are just 7 journeys, down from 13. Sundays stays at five. Saturdays is now down from 14 to just three.

If you live in Sheringham and want to visit Holt on Saturdays, Sanders allows you 55 minutes there, otherwise you can't return for five hours and 25 minutes.

Who drew up this incredible timetable?

The half-hourly 44 in Holway Road is too far for many people to walk to and from.

I wonder if Sanders realise that 28pc of people in north Norfolk are 65 and over, the third highest such area in the country. His customers and potential customers.

Sanders admit in their new timetable booklet that they have robbed Peter to pay Paul – 'We must apologise for the reduction in service to Holt Road in Sheringham and Upper Sheringham itself on the service 5. This is a direct result of having to route buses along the coast'. So this lessens any praise for Coasthopper and reduces the number who can reach it on a 365 day basis.

To add insult to injury, Sanders diverted the 5 via the 44's route on Sunday 29 April due to 'Work being done to prune low hanging trees'. Unfortunately they failed to put any notices on 7 of the 8 bus stops affected. Dismal public relations; and couldn't they have run single deckers instead?

There must surely be a way of restoring a decent service on the 5. Why break something that doesn't need fixing? Sanders will lose a lot of passengers and support, so please Mr Sanders, communicate better with your customers, realise that a bus service is a service, and that you are not in business to run buses, you are in the business of carrying passengers.

CHRIS CAVE

Holt Road,

Sheringham

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