A MAN who is chronically ill has spoken of his upset after a “vital” Ulverston bus service was stopped.

Thomas Atkins, of Maple Avenue, Ulverston, was distressed to find that the bus service he so heavily relied on had been cancelled.

The 62-year-old has had three heart attacks, has arthritis down the left side of his body and also suffers with epilepsy.

He uses the number 70 bus service, which runs from Croftlands and south Ulverston, to get to his regular doctor’s appointments at the health centre in Stanley Street.

He said: “I have bad health and walking difficulties and rely on that bus service to get me to the GP.

“It’s not just causing a problem for me but for the whole community.

“What are the elderly and the infirm meant to do with no bus service to get them to the doctor’s – we can’t afford taxis. I need to be able to visit my GP and with my heart condition I can’t walk long distances.”

The number 70 bus ceased running when bus company Lecks Travel closed down earlier this year.

Due to financial problems, owner Ann Newby decided to put the company into voluntary liquidation.

She had run the company with her husband Ian for a number of years before he died of cancer in 2012.

Mrs Newby appealed to Cumbria County Council for help but due to budget cuts the county council has been unable to subsidise any bus routes in Cumbria since October last year.

Mr Atkins said: “We need this service. I can get the number six bus into town but then I would have to walk quite a bit to get to the health centre which is difficult with my health.

“If I run out of breathe I collapse.”

A funding group has now been set up by three South Lakeland District councillors to try to bring back the service.

Councillors Mark Wilson, Bharath Rajan and John Clough say they feel this is a service that is vital to the community.

Cllr Wilson said: “As district councillors we have put some of our locally important project money into a pot to help a new provider get started.

“We have got £3,000 to help build up a bridge to support this community bus which does such valuable work so that it might continue into the future.

“At the moment we are trying to get the bones of a proposition that people can rally around.”

The funding group is looking at possible candidates to take over the service and remains “hopeful” that someone will.

If you would like to help bring back the number 70 bus service then donations can be sent to the town clerk, Jayne Kendall, at Ulverston Town Hall.

Cheques should be made payable to Ulverston Town Council.