A POPULAR Machynlleth town bus service has been axed after bungling council officials failed to advertise for people to run it, leaving residents “shocked”.

The “well used” service was stopped on 3 September after Powys County Council embarked on a tender exercise for all its public bus services - but failed to include the Machynlleth town service due to a “technical error”.

Lloyds Coaches, which previously ran the service, has agreed to step in and provide a greatly reduced “demand response service” for the town, but former Machynlleth mayor Gareth Jones said the debacle was “nothing short of mismanagement of the highest degree”.

“It [the service] was a lifeline for many people, especially those of pensionable age who need regular access to our town centre and was also well used by parents who needed to ensure their children were able to travel to and from the primary school in safety.”

Cllr Jones said: “Lloyds Coaches has decided to continue running a greatly reduced service twice daily without subsidy so that children can continue to get to school.

“This is a genuinely commendable gesture by the company and the proprietor should quite rightly be applauded for his dedication to our community.

“But as I say, this is a much reduced service and does not meet the needs of those elderly and vulnerable people who need to be able to travel into the town centre for appointments or shopping without spending their entire day away from home.

“It came as a shock to the town’s residents when they were told just a few days before it closed.

“The route was not put out to tender owing to an oversight on Powys County Council’s behalf, therefore no bus companies were given an option of submitting a bid.

“It is nothing short of mismanagement of the highest degree which is having a huge impact on some of our town’s most vulnerable people.”

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