A PETITION set up to save a bus route from being withdrawn has been signed by more than 750 concerned residents.

The number 62 bus service, connecting Runcorn and Warrington, is set to be withdrawn next month.

A petition to save the bus service was set up on Wednesday, and it had already received in excess of 750 signatures at the time of writing.

The organiser of the petition described the bus route as a ‘vital public service’ which connects the people along the route in Moore, Sandymoor, Murdishaw and Halton Lea with Stockton Heath, Daresbury Science and Technology Park and Halton Hospital, as well as younger people to Priestley College.

They said: “If this service is lost, a vital lifeline is cut for so many people across the community who cannot, do not or choose not to drive.

“Residents will lose access to retail options, healthcare services, education services and workplaces.”

Residents signing the petition said the service is ‘essential to maintain quality of life’, and that residents will be ‘completely cut off without it’.

Another resident said: “The service is essential for elderly, infirm, vulnerable and young people in our community, as well as other non-drivers. Without them, they will potentially be isolated.”

Weaver Vale MP Mike Amesbury told service operator Warrington’s Own Buses he was ‘extremely disappointed by the decision’ to axe the route.

He said: “The withdrawal of this service is of particular concern to the villages of Moore and Sandymoor.

“Both will be left without any direct bus service, rendering these communities effectively inaccessible by public transport.”

Warrington’s Own Buses says that despite a subsidy from Halton Borough Council, the service is being withdrawn due to funding restrictions which make it unviable.

The service is currently scheduled to be withdrawn from September 25.

If you would like to sign the petition, visit change.org/p/save-the-62-bus-service-between-runcorn-and-warrington