Residents are fearing some bus services are set to be lost in Ceredigion with a shake-up of the network planned for January.

Plaid Cymru MS for Ceredigion Elin Jones says she is concerned a ‘perfect storm’ for bus companies could see some routes cut.

Llanilar resident Marilyn James says she has heard rumours from bus drivers and other passengers that the 585 will stop serving Llanddewi Brefi, Llanfair Clydogau and other villages.

The service travels from Aberystwyth to Lampeter via Tregaron and caters to many remote villages with a more elderly population.

But Ceredigion County Council, the commissioner of bus services in the area, refused to be drawn on the future of the 585 but called on support from the Welsh government to maintain existing services.

The Cambrian News also contacted regional service providers, Lloyd’s Coaches, based in Machynlleth, and Evans Coaches in Tregaron, but neither provided any detail about the future of their services.

“There’s a lot of elderly people who rely on these buses and some of them have only just started coming back out after being wary of Covid,” Ms James said.

“And Welsh government policy is to get people using public transport which is also good for wellbeing and mental health. “But I think it’s very sad if a company like Evans Coaches who are Ceredigion based lose out on a contract – and jobs are lost.”

Ceredigion MS Elin Jones said: “There is clearly market failure hitting the bus sector now as a result of a perfect storm of spiralling fuel costs, Covid-related passenger use changes and driver and labour shortages.

“A fundamental review of bus franchising is underway by Welsh government, but this will not help services and bus companies in the short-term.

“More funding is needed and as we face the gloomy prospects of the Chancellor’s public funding cuts, we are increasingly aware of how likely we are to return to austerity measures which will probably hit Ceredigion just as much as everywhere else.”

In response to Ms Jones’ enquiries, a council spokesperson pointed to a ‘particularly challenging time for the bus industry’.

They said the contract holder of the 585 notified the council of its intention to terminate the service as of late August, after which officers made arrangements for it to continue until the end of December this year.

It will then go through a procurement process ‘with a view of securing a deliverable and affordable level of service moving forward on this route.’ Until then, they said, it will not be possible to forecast what the service will resemble from January onwards.

The spokesperson concluded: “The current situation sees a stark divergence between the strategic aspiration and ambition with what is deliverable and affordable.

“This is particularly prevalent in rural areas and will require positive intervention at a Welsh government level to see networks maintained, never-mind improved.”