THERE does not seem to be much of an outcry about the impending loss of 25 Arriva bus services in County Durham and the Tees Valley on July 9, but the cuts will hit many people very hard.

Bus travel is not the most exciting of subjects, and those people who use buses are unlikely to be the sort to glue themselves to the tarmac in front of bus stops to get their messages across.

READ MORE: ALL THE PROPOSED BUS SERVICE CUTS

But for many older people, the loss of a bus service is tantamount to the imposition of a prison sentence. People are locked in their houses where a taxi is the only, and expensive, way out. That means no supermarket shopping, and no attending medical appointments.

At the other end of the age spectrum, for younger people it means difficulty attending colleges and starting a first job.

Today we report on how Trimdon is going to be cut off; on Saturday, we looked at Hurworth – villagers to the south of Darlington feel they have already been driven off their bus as it only does a one-way circular route so they always end up going all round the houses, but from July 9 the service will get much worse.

No MPs, no mayors nor council leaders seem to be taking this up. Who speaks up for the bus users?

The Government is, rightly, taking more of the rail network back into public ownership because the private companies were providing such a poor service, but we seem to be standing back and watching the bus network being severely curtailed without much comment.