I AM disgusted that Stagecoach is again rising the cost of fares while at the same time presiding over, on occasions, an appallingly unreliable bus service.

I regularly use the 242 Witney-Woodstock service to get to and from work but the service has gone rapidly downhill in the last year or so.

Buses regularly arrive 15-30 minutes late and sometimes don’t show up at all.

The buses on that route also appear to be quite old, slow and uncomfortable.

I overheard an elderly passenger describe them as boneshakers recently.

For a national and international bus company who made a £237m profit last year, it is frankly disgraceful.

I challenged a driver the other day to explain why the bus was late and he said they were under pressure to drive slower to conserve fuel.

I later rang Stagecoach to again express my concerns over the regular late-running service and was told to ring back next week because the manager was on holiday.

Surely, if bus travel was made cheaper for the consumer more people would leave their cars at home and use the bus, bringing in extra revenue for the bus company. The growing number of senior citizens using the bus with their ‘free’ bus passes would support that argument.

I am seriously thinking of buying a moped, at least I’ll be able to get to work on time.

DREW CARTER Burford Road Witney