CAMPAIGNERS fighting to preserve a bus route between Monmouth and Chepstow have received the backing of Monmouth Assembly Member Nick Ramsay.

The future of the 65 bus service was cast into doubt recently as plans emerged for Monmouthshire County Council to scrap the service.

A petition to keep the service - signed by 1,000 people - and outcry from residents and users of the service granted it a temporary reprieve, but there are still concerns the service may be cut.

The bus, which runs daily (apart from Sundays) approximately every two hours, now benefits from an active group known as ‘Friends of the 65 Bus’. It is hoped, as the group grows, that one ‘friend’ of the bus will live in each village, who would be able to look after timetables.

Innovative ideas by the group include creating timetables which show how much time bus users would have in town and mapping out one-way-walks which could use the 65 service.

Friends of the bus met with Mr Ramsay last Wednesday, where he pledged to support the group.

The meeting came on the same day that the Welsh Government’s Future Generations Commissioner Sophie Howe published a report suggesting the £1.4bn spend on the M4 Relief Road would be better spent on rail and bus links, cycle routes and the South Wales Metro’s final phases.

The report also recommended better rail links, a link-and-ride bus service at points between Monmouth and Newport, and active travel routes like walking and cycling across Newport, Monmouthshire and Cardiff.

For more details, or to get involved, visit the Friends of the 65 Bus Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/1317400735057524/