"Step it up Stagecoach!" More villagers living near Leamington report bus service woes

Last week, The Leamington Courier and Warwickshire World reported that Cubbington residents were being left stranded and missing important appointments because of the unreliable 67A service provided by Stagecoach.

This prompted Radford Semele resident Judy Steele to get in touch and highlight how villagers there were facing similar issues with services provided by the bus company.

Judy said: “Stagecoach doesn’t just need to sort out the buses in Cubbington, although that sounds really bad for residents.

“How about Radford Semele, a mile closer to Leamington at only 1.7 miles from the bus stop by the parish church, which has just one bus an hour?

“There must be other places close to Leamington and Warwick that are just as badly served.

“FoRGE [Friends of Radford’s Green Environment] ran a survey this year to find out why people don’t use the bus and what villagers want.

“Most people said buses are unreliable and not frequent enough.”

Judy said that the new estate in the village, Crown Hill Gardens, has no bus stop and residents want the provision of two bus services per hour and that these would transport passengers to Asda in Sydenham nearby and The Leamington Shopping Park on a circular route.

She added: “A link to Warwick Hospital was also on the list, although it’s looking like a pipe dream.

“Crazy things happen with timings.

"One person can get from Radford to Warwick University to work in the morning but coming back in the evening could take two hours.”

In regard to issues with services, a Stagecoach spokesman has said: “

A Stagecoach spokesman said: “There are occasionally journeys that are either delayed or need to be cancelled at short notice, for which we apologise

"We do our utmost to ensure that buses turn up when they should and are sorry when this doesn’t happen.

"Passengers should have confidence in bus services in the region, with over 98 per cent of Stagecoach journeys running across the Midlands, and we continually strive to improve that further.”