CORNWALL Council and bus company Western Greyhound have come under fire over changes to the former 79 bus service. Callington's Cornwall councillor Andrew Long has criticised the council's public bus service officers and Western Greyhound over the 'debacle' regarding the replacement of the 79 service which serves the estates in the town and also the link via Gunnislake and Tavistock. He said: 'Since the demise of DAC Coaches, which previously provided the service, Plymouth CityBus had been providing a replacement service but it turns out that they were beaten to the route in a tender by Western Greyhound.' Instead of Cornwall Council or Western Greyhound informing the public or the town council, nothing was announced and rumours started to fly about what would and would not be provided in the new service, he said. This had upset many elderly users of the town service particularly. 'Simple communication could have avoided the heartache for many vulnerable people,' he said. 'Having now spoken at length to the council's public transport officers, I now have found that the service to Gunnislake and Tavistock, although changing to the 574 and 575 service, will continue to serve Tavistock Road, Hazelwood, Guipavas Road and Coombe Road but on a reduced frequency. Cllr Long said at a recent meeting of Cornwall Council's full council, he was among many who criticised the lack of consultation from departments within the council on many aspects, and said he highlighted the issue of the 79 service as an example of this 'failure' to advise either the public or councillors of proposed changes. David Edwards, Cornwall Council passenger transport group leader, said: 'The bus service 79 was a four-bus facility operated part commercially, and part supported by Cornwall Council. He said the loss of DAC Coaches at such short notice left other bus companies little time to be able to consider operating the service on a commercial basis; so the council agreed to fund a four bus operation until such time as a tender exercise could be undertaken. 'In the next few weeks of operation, no company declared an interest in operating the 79 service on a commercial basis,'he said. 'The council prepared a specification for a replacement 79 service but with limited funding available, asked for a two-bus operation to cover specific points to include the various estate roads within Callington and the loop around Kelly Bray and Downgate to be served on approximately a two-hourly basis. 'The tender has been won by Western Greyhound Ltd and the 79 service is re-numbered as 575. Western Greyhound's tender offered that "the various estate roads within Callington are served broadly two-hourly or better, providing links to Tesco, Callington and Tavistock. The Westover route will be served by the service 573 as it makes more geographical sense and therefore does not form part of this tender. The Kelly Bray to Callington section is already well served hourly on the commercial 576. A diversion via Downgate on the 576 will operate three or four times a day providing direct links to Callington, Launceston Tesco, Launceston Saltash and Plymouth".' In response to Cllr Long's claim of lack of communication, Mr Edwards said that until such a time as a local bus registration start date had been sanctioned by the traffic commissioner, it was not possible to publicise a bus service timetable. Information about changes to bus services was being distributed this week, he said.