RESIDENTS of South Ham say they are getting increasingly frustrated because of a shortage in the number of bus services in the area.

Many residents depend solely on Stagecoach bus services for shopping and other travel.

The service 3 buses, that connect Basingstoke Town Centre to South Ham, used to operate every 15 minutes before Covid, according to ward councillor Gary Watts.

SEE ALSO: Junior doctor takes on ‘bonkers’ challenge to raise money for St Michael’s Hospice

He said this has now reduced to one bus per hour.

“It has to do with Broken Britain, I'm afraid,” Cllr Watts said.

“The original timetable before Covid had one bus every 15 minutes. Obviously, during Covid, they had to cut it down to every half hour. But now residents are struggling to get one per hour.

“Other councillors and I have had several complaints from our residents. They are queueing up at bus stops and buses are just not turning up. Some people have actually been turned away because the buses have been too full.”

Cllr Watts added that South Ham has the highest demographic of elderly residents in Basingstoke according to 2011 census and a lot of residents depend solely on buses.

“They haven't got cars and they rely on a good reliable bus service and they're not getting it. They use their bus passes, but getting around has become really difficult now.”

Cllr Watts has already approached Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council that liaises with Stagecoach.

But said he was told that there is a severe staff shortage at Stagecoach.

READ MORE: Police conduct checks as Basingstoke road identified as high-risk road based on collision data

When one of the South Ham residents approached the bus service directly with concerns about the shortage of buses he was told "the driver availability and recruitment positions remain far from ideal, not just for Basingstoke but nationally".

A Stagecoach spokesperson added:"As with many industries across the country, we are continuing to face challenges around a staffing situation that is out of our control due to the shortage of professional drivers.

"Timetables have had to be reduced across our Basingstoke network to ensure we provide a reliable service whilst we take proactive steps to alleviate the situation by recruiting new drivers. We are focused on getting our new team members through our training programmes and on the road as soon as we can."