Angry residents demanding to know why their bus services have been cut in half told bosses they had become prisoners in their own homes.

Around 80 residents of Sholing in Southampton packed out St Andrew’s Methodist Church to hear what First Bus Hampshire had to say on why the number five service from Sholing to Swaythling was reduced from twice an hour to just once after it was deemed too costly to continue.

Daily Echo:

Southampton Itchen MP John Denham and prospective Parliamentary candidate Rowenna Davis organised the meeting after receiving several complaints from residents that the lack of service meant they were missing doctors’ appointments or taking children to school late.

People at the meeting said they wanted the extra buses back, adding they felt trapped at home in the evenings because there are no return buses from the city centre to the Butts Road part of Sholing.

Kathryn Jordan, of Julian Road, Sholing, said: “I feel like because we do not drive we are being made prisoners in our homes and it’s not fair because we have all paid for the buses in one way or another.

“We need them in the evening because we cannot get out of Butts Road without a car.”

Jane Sims, of Bowman Court, Sholing, added: “What gets me is the number 10 in Thornhill runs all the time and the last bus back comes in at 11.45pm every day when no one is on it. If that happens in Thornhill, why can’t we have it?”

And Mr Denham asked First Hampshire general manager Chrissie Bainbridge if other routes could be diverted through Sholing to provide more regular services to the city centre.

Ms Bainbridge said the cuts in June were made because research showed that not enough people were using the number five and that First Hampshire had considered removing it completely.

She added: “It would be great if we could say we will take some resources from the number three and put it back on the number five route but five was not paying for itself when we had four buses running half hourly services.

“I’m not saying never and I’m very happy to take this back and have a look at this in more detail but these are purely commercial routes with no subsidies and they have to pay for themselves.”