AN MP has promised bus users she will push for their service to stay.

Dean Court’s 4C hourly bus through the city is due to stop running tomorrow in a plan announced by Oxford Bus Company last month.

The Oxford West and Abingdon MP met concerned passengers yesterday at the Pinnocks Way bus stop.

She said: “I am concerned there has not been sufficient consultation about stopping the 4C bus. It is the most vulnerable residents that will suffer.

“I am going to be asking Oxford Bus Company to look for alternatives to ensure residents aren’t disadvantaged.”

The service, which connects Wood Farm and the city with Dean Court, will be replaced by an improved 4B service which will run to Cumnor every 20 minutes.

But some bus users say they will not be able to get up the steep Dean Court Road to their new bus stop.

Songers Close resident Helen Carter, 70, said: “We are going to be so isolated. They are taking away our independence.”

Oxford Bus Company spokesman Phil Ashworth said it was the responsibility of Oxfordshire County Council to assess the social need to a service.

He explained: "Nicola Blackwood has been in touch with Oxford Bus Company and we have detailed the reasons behind the changes to the City4 service.

"We explained that the decision to change the route was a commercial one and that where a bus operator cannot provide a service commercially there is a statutory responsibility for the County Council to assess social need. It is then their decision whether or not a replacement service is provided."