PEOPLE are petitioning a bus company to reinstate two routes.

Branksome Residents' Association, in Darlington, collected 300 names supporting the return of the numbers 25a and 25b services two years after they ceased.

Copies have been sent to Prime Minster Tony Blair, his deputy John Prescott and Darlington MP Alan Milburn.

Passengers say Stagecoach's number 25 service does not adequately serve people on the estate.

Association chairman Sam Buckle says removal of the 25a service has prevented people accessing the shops and post office in Whitby Way.

It previously ran through the estate clockwise and anti-clockwise, but changed to run in a single loop. Stagecoach said more people would use it if it ran in one direction.

Mr Buckle said: "Elderly people used to be able to get off at the shopping centre and go back in the opposite direction but that has all stopped now. Now they have to travel an extra mile and a half on the bus."

A spokesman for Mr Milburn said: "Alan is aware of the problem and the residents' association has raised it with him. He has written to Stagecoach."

Stagecoach North-East's acting divisional traffic manager, John Fraser, said the company has heard the residents' plea.

He said: "We have responded to Mr Milburn and Stagecoach are currently in discussions about the situation."