‘WE WANT OUR BUS BACK NOW!’
Elderly passengers left with ‘awful’ walk
DOZENS of passengers have signed a petition calling for their bus service to be reinstated – again.
People living off Norton Lane, Norton, have been without a bus near their homes since First Potteries and D&G pulled out about three years ago.
It means they now have to walk up and down steep hills to Leek New Road or Bellerton Lane to catch a bus, which many elderly people find difficult to do.
They last called for the service to be reinstated 18 months ago.
But that fell on deaf ears and now a 51-name petition has been sent to Stoke-on-trent City Council calling for buses to return to Norton Lane.
The petition was started by 86-yearold Lilian Perry. It stated: “We had a bus service for more than 40 years. Quite a few people cannot get out because it’s such a big walk. I am aged 86 and am finding it so hard.
“I love to go out but I am finding the walk all the way to the top of Norton Lane awful. Even to get to the doctors and the nearest shop we have to walk all along Norton Lane. We only need a little bus. It would help a lot of people.”
Lilian, of Caton Crescent, Norton, added: “We now have to get off the bus on Leek New Road and walk up the hill or go through the estate. Either way it is uphill. It is a long way to walk.
“We need the bus stopping in Norton Lane again.”
Other elderly people in Caton Crescent are backing Lilian’s fight.
Mary Stanyer, aged 74, said: “I used the bus regularly and it was really handy. It has been said that the road is too narrow for buses, but a small bus or a minibus would do the job.”
Sandra Bradshaw, aged 71, said: ”We want the bus back because some of the old people are really struggling. I can’t get up the bank.”
Maureen Maddock, aged 81, said: “I used the bus. It is very difficult for a lot of old people. They can’t even get to the crematorium.”
Eighty-two-year-old Derek Powell added: “It is a hell of a walk, even for a young person. It is not good for the elderly people who do not drive as they are becoming isolated.”