CUTS to vital rural bus services in West Devon have brought a rash of angry complaints this week.

West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett is pressurising Devon County Council to reverse its decision after receiving a pile of complaints. And the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate, Geoffrey Cox, visited the area to meet people affected by the cuts.

Parish councils in affected areas have added their voices to the growing protests.

Their concern followed news from Devon County Council that summer bus timetables throughout West Devon are to be slashed, and in some cases services would be done away with altogether.

The council blamed an increase in contract prices, saying they were in excess of the 27 per cent increase in Government funding for rural buses.

Dorothy Gilbert has been co-ordinating the protest in Halwill, which will be heavily hit by the cuts.

'We've already lost the Saturday bus between Halwill and Barnstaple and this month they are going to cut another three services,' she said.

The 631 weekly service calling at the many isolated villages and hamlets between Northlew, Halwill and Tavistock on Thursdays, before going on to Plymouth, is to be withdrawn on May 24.

The 634 weekly Tuesday service to Launceston is to be withdrawn May 22, so too the monthly 637 service between Halwill, Lifton, Lewdown and Tavistock on May 11.

'We do have an excellent service to Exeter, but people have to be able to get to Plymouth and Launceston as well. Sometimes we don't get a lot of people on the buses, but for these people they are essential. For some places, like Giles-on-the-Heath, this will mean no buses at all,' she said.

'The Government policy was to put more money into rural areas, particularly for transport, where has all that gone?'

The three services are run by local company Guscott's Coaches. Partner David Guscott said they had not raised their tender price to the council in three years.

'They just wrote us a letter saying they were cancelling these services, but we pay the licence and I'm not sure they can do that — we'll have to check — all they do is give us a bit of financial support,' he said.

That financial support amounts to some £4,160 a year for the 631, £3,120 for the 634 and £960 for the 637, a total of just over £8,000.

'We could carry on without their support if we wanted to, but we can't afford to,' he said.

Mr Guscott said the system worked well before deregulation — they provided the local services and subsidised them with their other work, which had subsequently disappeared in face of competition from large companies.

Mrs Gilbert has collected more than 200 names of people who will be affected by the cuts, all demanding the services be reinstated. She has sent it to DETR minister John Prescott and Devon County Council, as well as Mr Burnett.

He said: 'Cutting these services is completely unacceptable — it's a huge inconvenience to my constituents. I shall do everything in my power to ensure this decision is reversed and the services reinstated.'

Mr Cox visited Lifton, which will be affected by the cuts to the 186 Okehampton-Launceston-Tavistock route, on Monday — there the twice daily service will be cut in half.

'Bus services that represent the only link many local people have with Launceston, Tavistock and Plymouth are under threat from these county council cuts. The excuse given is that the rising cost of fuel has made the services too expensive,' he said.

Mr Cox also attacked the proposal to withdraw the other services.

'These bus services are lifelines to young and elderly people and we must do everything we can to keep them operating to these places,' he said.

First Western National said they operated the service under contract to the council, which thus controlled service levels.