DECISIONS to change bus services through Steeton and Denholme have received a mixed response from councillors.

Steeton-with-Eastburn Parish Council chairman, Cllr David Mullen, has welcomed an increase in services from Keighley to Skipton, but is concerned the buses will no longer call at Airedale Hospital.

And district councillor Simon Cooke has highlighted the scrapping of a direct service from Keighley to Halifax via Denholme.

While accepting there may be no hope for the Denholme bus – which is being scrapped for the second time due to low passenger numbers – he has called for a rethink on how such rural services are subsidised.

Public transport body Metro this month announced the changes – among several proposed by bus companies across West Yorkshire – will come into effect on Sunday.

Three services with the 66 prefix, serving villages between Keighley and Skipton, will be merged into one, with a new timetable aiming to improved departure times.

The service will be increased to every 20 minutes during the day from Mondays to Saturdays, with the last bus leaving Keighley at 11pm and Skipton at 11.40pm.

Buses will no longer serve the Airedale Hospital grounds, and some buses will continue to serve Silsden on a revised route. However, the hourly Keighley-Burnley bus will continue to call at Airedale Hospital.

Cllr Mullen said: “A bus every 20 minutes is fine, but if you can’t get to Airedale Hospital due to your mobility, it’s not much cop.

“What we’d really like is all the buses to go via Steeton/Silsden railway station. That’s currently one of the objectives in our Neighbourhood Plan.”

Cllr Mullen claimed if Keighley-Skipton buses called at both locations, it could dramatically reduce parking problems in Steeton caused by commuters and hospital visitors.

The long-established 502 service connecting Keighley with Halifax via Denholme was scrapped several years ago due to low usage, then later reinstated, but now Bus company First has decided to withdraw the service again from Sunday for the same reasons.

Cllr Cooke, who represents Bingley Rural ward on Bradford Council, admitted it was difficult for a commercial bus operator to justify running an underused service.

But he said: “I think we need to ask some sensible questions about public transport and the way in which villages are served. We need to look carefully at the way we subsidise services.

“There are hundreds of thousands of pounds of council taxpayers' money spent each year. It’s about getting the priorities right."