Bus company First is off its trolley with the new timetable, say angry Nailsea passengers.

From Friday, August 28, when the new timetables are due to be introduced Nailsea will have no buses running to Clevedon on Sunday and a journey to Weston-super-Mare could take hours.

And those living in sheltered accommodation along Silver Street will no longer be on a bus route.

The worse affected will be patients trying to get to an early morning Weston hospital appointment or making a weekend visit to elderly relatives living in a North Somerset nursing home in another town.

And you won't be able to go by bus to the seaside, Clevedon Court or Clevedon Pier on Sunday.

North Somerset Council travel team have manned two stalls at Nailsea library this week and have been inundated with complaints.

District councillors Mary Blatchford, Andy Cole and James Tonkin were at their monthly surgery also at the library and saw a steady stream of concerned people.

Mr Tonkin said: “Usually we only see between one to three people in a morning but there were scores queuing to vent their disapproval.”

Despite a public consultation back in February when hundreds voiced their views on what bus service they wanted the resulting timetables and routes chosen has come in as a shock for many.

Sylvia Bond who lives at Pegasus Court feared she would no longer be able to do voluntary work at the Curzon cinema, Clevedon.

She said: “It appears to be a two hour service with no buses on Sunday – it is ridiculous and it is pensioners who are going to suffer most trying to get to hospital.”

Mr Cole said: “I have had parents saying their children attending Nailsea School will have to wait ages to get a bus home to Clevedon or Long Ashton – this is just not right, it is dangerous and we need to get it sorted.”

Lorraine Thomas, of Pound Lane, works for Bristol City Council.

A regular commuter she said the travelling community who chat together on route to and from work didn't pick up on these impeding changes and will be shocked.

She said the new timetable will add 15-20 minutes on every journey and she will have further to walk to a bus stop.

Lorraine is pictured below talking to councillors Cole and Tonkin.

Nailsea resident Deb Gough said: “I am just wondering who thought it was a good idea to turn Hazelbury Road into a main bus route?

“It says online that local residents had been consulted but the first we know of it is a neighbour being woken up at 3am by a man putting up a bus stop.”

Nailsea Town Council wasn’t informed in advance and the three district councillors on Saturday morning duty say they weren’t given prior knowledge of the changes.

Nailsea grandmother and local history buff Lesley Bowman said: “Hazelbury Road is far too narrow to be  on a bus route.

“The bus timetables are complicated and don't give all the stops.

“For example the Whitesfield Road bus stop on Queens Road is not listed on the timetable.”

But district councillor Jan Barber said: “There was a massive response to the February consultation and most people really wanted a speedy and frequent service via the Long Ashton by-pass into Bristol without the delays caused by the buses going round Portishead and Clevedon.

“In response, the bus company decided that there should be a regular Nailsea/Bristol bus service every quarter of an hour. 

“Routes were changed slightly to encompass half of these buses going via Wraxall and those buses go down Hazelbury Road. 

“The others still use Mizzymead Road so pass Nailsea School. 

“Most people retain their half hourly service with the addition of short walks to get the extra buses of four per hour. 

“I thought everyone would be delighted and most are.

“However, there are complaints from Silver Street, particularly the residents at Moorfields Court where buses will no longer run at all – the A2 runs every two hours and now goes down Fosse Way to Clevedon, so if the people want to go in to Nailsea they will have to walk, or pay for the Community Bus. 

“This is not ideal and there are many disappointed residents who liked their previous service.

“Equally there are complaints from the residents of Hazelbury. 

“This started with the council’s contractor installing bus stops at 3am which immediately made people very suspicious, as it would! 

“It appears that he is an early riser!

“What I hadn’t realised was the previous bus going down Hazelbury worked on the ‘hail and ride’ principle so there was no requirement for ‘street furniture’ like bus stops whereas with a regular half hourly service the situation has altered.

“I understand it is only one way down Hazelbury and that there are a lot of delighted residents.

“There are also some disgruntled residents who say that the consultation was inadequate and the Hazelbury is a quiet residential road and unsuitable for a bus route.

“The officers from North Somerset and the bus company dispute this and say that the road is more than wide enough and far superior to many roads in Portishead where there is a regular bus service.

“I did try to get the reassurance that there would be no double-decker buses down Hazelbury but they said that if they run out of single-deckers then there would be the odd one.”

Jenny Nicholls, of Blandford Close, said: “Weekdays there is only a two hours service now to Clevedon.”

Linda Tippetts, of The Maples, said: “A friend’s son finishes work in Clevedon at 4pm and will have to wait until 6pm to get a bus home.”

North Somerset Council has been awarded £150,000 of Government Local Sustainable Transport Fund cash to increase the frequency of buses between the city and Nailsea and introduce the new weekend, evening and bank holiday services.

The new Nailsea to Bristol services will be called the X8 (via Backwell) and X9 (via Wraxall and Long Ashton).

The changes will see the frequency of buses through Wraxall upped to half hourly Monday to Friday.

A late Saturday night only service from Bristol to Nailsea via Backwell will now leave the bus station at 1.10am and arrives in Nailsea at 1.45am.

The new services will be run in partnership between bus operators First and A Bus.