A leading disabled rights campaigner said the cessation of a lifeline bus service could leave vulnerable Fifers stranded.
Fife Council has confirmed a temporary halt of its weekend Ring and Ride and Dial-A-Ride services in several towns because of driver holidays and absence through illness.
Users in Dunfermline, Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy and Levenmouth are to be affected by the move, with bosses at the local authority stating the postponement may continue into 2018.
Susan Archibald, who has campaigned on behalf of disabled Fifers for several years, said halting buses for disabled and elderly people could leave them cut off.
She said: “Some people might not receive visitors at weekend and this will have a huge impact on their mental health. It’s a lifeline to them.
“When I first became disabled it was one of my first lifelines back to reality and a lot of people really rely on it.”
Mrs Archibald’s sentiments were echoed by Charles Litster, chair of Disabilities Fife, who criticised the local authority for not consulting with the charity.
He added: “It will leave a lot of our members in a very difficult position should they want to go out and do their Christmas shopping.
“I must say that it is strange as this is a temporary access issue and we would very much like to have been consulted beforehand.”
Under the umbrella term of “Demand Responsive Transport”, Dial-a-Ride and Ring and Ride offers wheelchair-accessible transport free of charge to people who have trouble accessing mainstream public transport.
The Fife Council-operated service uses minibuses to transport people to major shopping centres from their homes, providing a vital link for some of the region’s most vulnerable residents.
Confirming that weekend services would cease later this month and were not likely to restart until the new year, Fife Council’s Angela Hutchison, said: “Unfortunately, there are a lot of drivers off in the team due to illness, medical appointments and pre-approved holidays.
“This means that from November 6 we’ll be unable to run the Fife Bus Service at the weekend across Kirkcaldy, Levenmouth, Glenrothes and Dunfermline.
“This also means that we’re unable to run a service through to 10pm during the week.
“However, as we’re a demand led service, we re-prioritise our service based on when it’s in most demand, which is Monday to Friday, and as the service won’t be running at the weekend, there may be times we can run a service until 10pm but we’ll monitor this on a daily basis.
“This is just an interim measure and we hope to be fully operational again early next year.”
