A bid to save a vital bus link between Ross and Gloucester is being supported by the Ross Town Council and local MP, Paul Keetch. The 33 Stagecoach bus which runs via Weston-under- Penyard and the Lea is due to be axed on April 22nd. Mr Keetch dashed to a meeting with angry and concerned villagers at Lea Church on Monday, after standing orders had been suspended to allow him to address councillors at Ross Town Council's first meeting of 2007. Stagecoach gave notice to Herefordshire Council that the service is to be suspended following the withdrawal of subsidy by the Gloucestershire Council who say that most of the passengers who use the 33 live in Herefordshire. Herefordshire Council has stated that passengers between Ross and Gloucester will be served by the alternative service via Newent adding "if we are able to provide a subsidised service to replace the 33 it will therefore have to be justified on the level of demand from Lea and Weston-under-Penyard only." One hundred concerned villagers attended the meeting at Lea Church. Lea resident, Juliet Millman, told The Ross Gazette that she depended on the 33 bus to get her to and from her job in Gloucester. She said: "The bus is packed first thing in the morning, it is often standing room only all the way." Mr Keetch began the meeting by ascertaining that at least half the audience used the bus regularly. He said he saw no chance of persuading Gloucestershire to re-instate the subsidy, therefore the way forward was to to persuade Herefordshire to replace it with a better service to go via Lea and Weston rather than via Newent. The parish councils have just ten days to come up with a proposal. Mr Keetch said they should campaign for a service 33 that would provide an hourly bus at peak times with a 2 hourly service in the middle of the day. He said the 38 Hereford to Ross service was profitable. "When the 38 service comes up for re-negotiation with Stagecoach you should campaign for it to be a city to city service - from Hereford, Ross, Weston, Lea to Gloucester." Colin Jenkins of the Lea received a round of applause when he said: "The issue is bigger than this bus. With the Kyoto protocol and green issues you should go to Westminster and tell them to knock these two Councils' heads together. Our biggest bill is Council Tax which runs away with our money and we will have no bus." Keith Shilton the Weston-under-Penyard Parish Clerk said "It is totally unacceptable in the 21st century that the young and the old will have no access to shops hospitals and doctor's surgeries." He said that Kate Barrett of Weston had been working on a survey which would be ready for Weston's Parish Council meeting on January 16th. All the concerned parish councils were working on a very clearly worded response to the proposals. The local Councillor, Harry Bramer, who was at another meeting about the 33 bus, told The Gazette on Tuesday that it was important for all the Parish Councils to work together and come up with detailed reasons why this service should be saved "Something has gone sadly wrong if you cannot connect your major towns by bus."