Frustration is growing in Cumbrians who feel unable to have their say on changes to the county's bus services.

Cumbria County Council is applying for access to future funding for local buses.

A survey is being carried out to capture people's views on current public transport in the county.

But the Cumbria Deaf Association revealed its anger at not being able to participate.

Posting on Twitter, the association said: “It’s frustrating that the survey, which affects many in Cumbria’s deaf community, isn’t in an accessible format for them to understand.

“The survey can be subtitled and translated into Dutch, Urdu, Welsh, Irish, etc, but nothing British Sign Language.”

Caroline Howsley, general manager at the association, thinks the county council should have been better prepared.

She said: “Cumbria County Council, like many other organisations who seek public opinion, fail to include accessible options for the groups who often need the services the most.

"Many people in the deaf community use only a limited amount of online services, whether that is through age, ability or lack of decent online access.

"To ensure that their thoughts are heard, it falls to charities to spend the time and resources explaining the context of the research; the answers need to be translated into British Sign Language."

Austin Shields, senior manager for transport services at Cumbria County Council, said he wants to engage all of the public on the services.

He said: “We’re conducting a series of surveys to capture the views of bus users and non-bus users regarding the current provision in Cumbria and to seek their feedback regarding improvements which could be delivered.”

But another group, Travel Watch Northwest, believed the survey had not allowed enough time for people to air their views.

A spokesman said: “The consultation apparently closes on Tuesday but, in our opinion, it has not been well publicised."

They agreed that improvements needed to be made to public transport on offer.

Phil Greenup, assistant director for highways and transport at Cumbria County Council, said time is running out for people to have their say.

He said: “To access future funding for buses, the council must submit a bus services improvement plan by the end of October 2021, which is obviously a challenging timescale.”

Further information and links to access the survey are available on the council’s website at https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/buses/nbs/