ANOTHER bus service came under threat this week when Regal Busways told Essex County Council of its plan to ditch the 261 service from Blackmore to Brentwood via Doddinghurst.
The operator wants to cancel the service from July 19.
The news comes just weeks after changes to the 73A and B bus services that offer elderly residents of Warley a link to Brentwood town centre.
"They've done it once, now do it again," was the call from the secretary of the Bus and Rail Users' Association, Cllr David Kendall, who wants Essex County Council to guarantee the service will continue.
"They came up with the goods for the Woodman Road service and that's gone down very well.
"It's easy for people to say 'just save it' but these things do take time.
"The key is communication and to be fair they have flagged it up early and they have been very open about it."
The 73A and B services are now by Stevensons of Essex with the council after it was dropped by provider First Group.
Vice chair of the Bus and Rail Users' Association, Josie Lloyd, acknowledged the difficult financial times: "Every commercial service has to pay for itself but people have to have this route available to them," she said.
Regal Busways made the headlines last month when a Brentwood student escaped a "life threatening" situation when the double-decker he was travelling on crashed into a bridge.
At the time of publication, the company had not responded to a request for comment.
