A BUS route which serves some of the most deprived parts of Darlington has been axed by the council -leaving elderly residents looking for alternative transport.

The Green Bus services 10 and 11 were launched a year ago and link Firthmoor, Red Hall, Albert Hill, the Eastbourne Sports Complex and Morrisons, and have been stopped because almost no one was using them.

The routes were launched by Darlington Borough Council after it was given £1.07m from the Government's Urban Bus Challenge Fund to tackle social exclusion in areas of social deprivation.

The Green Bus route 19, through Whinfield, Red Hall, Morton Park, Faverdale and more recently the new West Park estate, was set up at the same time, but it has thrived. Usage increased by 19 per cent in the first six months of the year.

The council has promised to re-evaluate how it can serve the areas on routes 10 and 11 in the new year - but the move has left some people without their vital services.

Edwina Brown, secretary of the Firthmoor Over-60s Club, said: "Some people get the bus on a Wednesday and it is a problem for them. I am sorry, they will miss it.

"There is quite a lot of people who can't afford taxis but they have bus passes."

She complained that there were no buses along Fenby Avenue or Burnside Road, where a lot of older people live.

The council set up routes 10 and 11 to link the estates with the town's main areas of employment, shopping, leisure and health centres after consulting with community groups.

The route was heralded as a way of improving the quality of life for many residents, and getting more people into work.

Councillor Nick Wallis, council cabinet member for highways and transport, said yesterday: "It was a new scheme, something we hadn't done before and it proved to be very successful for the route 19.

"Clearly, there is much we can learn from this when we are reviewing the 10 and 11 in the new year."

Darlington's grant of £1.07m was the largest share of the £18m available nationally.