OLDER people in High Wycombe are complaining bitterly about possible cuts and changes to their bus service.

It's already unreliable, they say, and more cuts could leave them stranded in their homes.

On Friday the Bucks Free Press revealed changes proposed by local bus company, Arriva, from April 22, with comments from Wycombe district councillor Peter Cartwrigh that whole swathes of the town could be be left without a bus service.

"It is of the utmost concern and something we need to get involved with at a very early date," he said.

The company has found that roadworks, traffic congestion and a shortage of drivers means that buses are unreliable. People preferred a reliable service to one that was never on time, said a company spokesman.

But Cllr Cartwright said a policy to have a frequent and reliable bus service on the main corridors would be at the expense of the residential areas.

Widow Pearl Hills of Hillary Road, High Wycombe, said the situation was getting ludicrous

She said: "If we go down town we are never sure we are going to get back again."

One of the services proposed to be withdrawn is the 306 service which Mrs Hills uses

She added: "I am 75 and I don't have a car. If they take off the 306 my closest stop will be Hatters Lane or Totteridge post office which are uphill and too far.

"There are no local shops. I have had two heart attacks and a cardiac arrest and would not be able to go anywhere. "

Mrs Hills said she had a 81-year-old friend who had had a triple bypass operation.

"But we do like to get out. Now we shall be forced to stay indoors."

She said there were a lot of old people in the area, including people living in old people's bungalows in Roebuck Avenue.

Continuation of some of the threatened services now depends on Buckinghamshire County Council subsidising them.

Public transport officer John Hodgkins said : "We would like to maintain as much as we can of the existing network particularly in the evenings, but whether we have enough money remains to be seen."