PASSENGERS are furious today after bus services to their village were halved, while others are complaining about buses being late or not turning up at all.

One woman was forced to walk nearly two miles for a hospital appointment after the bus failed to show, and others say they have been late for work and been forced to take taxis.

The problems on the Felixstowe peninsula are being blamed on recent changes to bus routes across the area and a bus war in Ipswich.

Trimley St Martin Parish Council chairman John Barker said: “All buses to Trimley St Martin used to come via Morston Hall and now they use the A14 and Howlett Way and miss out a large part of the village.

“We now have 21 buses a day instead of 46.

“We were not consulted on these changes, which have been to the detriment or our village and its residents.

“I think it’s absolutely disgraceful and immoral.”

Bryan Frost, of Felixstowe Travel Watch, said: “It’s a terrible situation and has mainly come about because of a bus war in Ipswich which we don’t think can carry on. We are on the case.”

Janet Green, of Landguard Court, went to catch the bus at 10.50am in Langer Road as part of her journey for a physio appointment at Felixstowe Community Hospital.

“After ten minutes the bus hadn’t turned up so I started to walk. I walked its route into town past people waiting at other stops and it never came past me,” she said.

“It was the second time in a week the bus has failed to arrive. It’s not a reliable service at all.”

A spokeswoman for First Eastern Counties Buses said: “The roadworks in Ipswich due to the Ipswich Fit for the 21st Century initiative is causing severe delays to all bus services across all local operators.

“We are monitoring the situation, including delays in Felixstowe and our commercial team are taking appropriate action as needs arise.”

She said frequency of services from the Timleys towards Ipswich had not changed and remain at every 15 minutes. Journeys from Ipswich back out to Felixstowe though are reduced in Trimley St Martin to half hourly instead of every 15 minutes.