A THREATENED Basingstoke bus service route has been spared the immediate axe - but its survival is still far from certain.

On Friday, Stagecoach bosses told a delegation of borough councillors they will not suspend their decision to cut the number nine bus.

However, the good news for campaigners and local passengers is Hampshire County Council officials have confirmed that the county will subsidise the service while the authority goes out to tender to see how much subsidy might be involved in keeping it operating permanently.

From June 16, the service, which runs between Lychpit, Chineham Centre, Popley, Basingstoke hospital, Winklebury, South Ham, Worting Road and Basingstoke town centre, will now be every 90 minutes. It currently runs at 60-minute intervals.

Fifteen Basingstoke borough councillors from various political groups met Edward Hodgson, Stagecoach commercial director for Hampshire, at Basingstoke and Deane's Civic Offices on Friday.

Labour councillors Colin Regan and Jane Frankum presented Mr Hodgson with a petition signed by 640 residents asking for the service to be kept on.

Cllr Frankum said the petition was the "tip of the iceberg", adding there would have been several thousand more signatures on the petition if there had been more time to collect them.

However, the strength of local feeling failed to force a change of heart by Stagecoach bosses.

Cllr Regan, a South Ham ward councillor, said: "Stagecoach were quite inflexible. They simply told us the service was losing money. It's a purely commercial decision without any thought for the social needs.

"We wanted them to suspend their decision so we could look at more alternatives.

"However, we obviously welcome the county council stepping in, and keeping some sort of service on. It's still too infrequent - every 90 minutes is not adequate enough for people who need to make hospital appointments.

"We have a foot in the door, and we will carry on trying to convince both the county council and Stagecoach that the number nine has to be kept on."

A Hampshire County Council transport officer and county councillor Cllr Jonathan Glen also attended Friday's meeting. They said the tendering process will take between 10 and 12 weeks.

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