CEREDIGION residents who use Aberystwyth’s park-and-ride service were “let down” by the council in the row over the future of the service, councillors have claimed.

The future of the bus route has been mired in confusion, with Cabinet members saying they supported launching a tender for a new 12-month service if operator Mid Wales Travel decides to end the service, but Mid Wales Travel has insisted the council controls the route and has been offered the chance to continue the route without paying a subsidy.

That led to criticism from councillors, who have been battling to save the park-and-ride, with questions being asked over the council’s handling of the situation.

Council chairman Dai Mason, who launched a call-in of the Cabinet’s original decision in an effort to maintain the service, has claimed the authority has provided “misleading information” to councillors.

He said: “Ceredigion Cabinet members are letting the elderly and the people of Ceredigion down by bulldozing these cuts with misinformed information.

“Members should concentrate their efforts in fighting these austerity cuts at the Welsh Assembly instead of imposing them on essential services. Enough is enough, the time to be an obedient servant is over.

"With all the lack of knowledge and misleading information given to the Cabinet, the park-and-ride decision must now go to the full council for clarification and a proper democratic decision.”

Aberystwyth councillor Ceredig Davies hit out at highways Cabinet member and council leader Ellen ap Gwynn for leaving it until the very last minute before giving any consideration to how to continue a park-and-ride bus service.

He said: “Aberystwyth is to lose its park-and-ride as a consequence of Cllr Alun Williams and the rest of the Cabinet not wishing to lose face in admitting they wasted the £10,000 or so they paid PriceWaterhouse Coopers for the recommendation that the park-and-ride was cut as a cost-saving measure.

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