ELDERLY Warndon Villages residents are up in arms that their regular bus service has been axed and replaced by an 'inadequate' alternative.

Derek Foster said he and fellow bus users around the Dugdale Drive area were angry that the LMS Travel's hourly 39a bus from the city centre has been axed as part of changes made by Worcestershire County Council which came into operation this week.

First's 353 service will now drop off at the same stop in Dugdale Drive, but only twice a day. Only an hour apart, at 12.15pm and 1.15pm.

Mr Foster, from Bright Avenue, said residents were being constantly told to use public transport but that it was being made more and more difficult.

"It makes steam come out of the top of my head," the 78-year-old said. "One bus an hour is not excessive.

"There are people up here who rely on the bus service to get out and about."

First's half-hourly 36 service will drop off at the top of Dugdale Drive on Woodgreen Drive - but Mr Foster said that it was a good half-mile walk down the road.

"Frail and elderly people just can't cope with that if they have shopping bags," he said.

A spokesperson for Worcest-ershire County Council said: "The county council tries to provide bus services where it is not commercially viable for a private company to run a regular service.

"We have tried to ensure that the residents of Dugdale Drive retain a service to use, including the 39, 353 and Warndon flexiLINK service as well as the nearby new 36 service. The county council is always looking at alternatives to better serve the general public."

A spokesperson for First said the revised routes meant better services to Tesco on Millwood Drive and Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

"It is impossible to meet everyone's needs and, at the end of the day, we are not a taxi service," he said. "But I think the majority of people will benefit from the changes."