A RUSH hour commuter in Lane End has criticised bus operators for not running a frequent bus service through the village.

Passengers travelling at the peak commuter times said they have to wait nearly an hour for a bus travelling to and from High Wycombe.

Villagers hoped services would improve after Carousel Buses started operating an hourly service this month through the village via Cressex and High Wycombe.

Carousel's 339 service replaced journeys withdrawn by rival Arriva ensuring a half-hourly service.

However during the morning peak hours Carousel has not replaced the 8.15am service to High Wycombe.

Instead villagers have to choose between an Arriva and Carousel service which run within minutes of each other before 8am.

Alison Bowler, 18, from Lane End, said she is left with little choice but to get into High Wycombe 45 minutes early.

Miss Bowler, an office junior, said: "People are not happy as there have been no real changes at all. Both the bus services seem to be running at the same times. Arriva used to run an 8.15am service which was scrapped.

"We thought that Carousel would replace that bus but instead it is running almost the same service as Arriva.

"We need a half-hourly service during peak hours."

Miss Bowler said matters are worse in the evening as she finishes work at 6pm and has to wait until 6.45pm for the next hourly service.

Carousel said it had not replaced the 8.15am bus because it had not been made aware that the service had been withdrawn.

Steve Burns, managing director, said: "We are looking at the service but we could not put it on with two weeks notice."

"We are looking at every opportunity to increase services on our route and are reviewing the timetable at the moment. Any additional services that we can put on, we will do so."

Arriva said it was not allowed under transport regulations to cooperate with Carousel over timetabling.

A spokesman said: "We registered our services with the traffic commissioner and with the local authority eight weeks prior to the new timetable being introduced."

John Hodgkins, Buckinghamshire County Council integrated transport manager, said he was aware of commuters' concerns due to the loss of the 8.15am service and hoped one of the operators would reconsider its timetable.