ANGRY district chiefs have condemned a decision to axe the direct link between Kidderminster and Birmingham's main connecting hub at New Street.

The news - first revealed in the Shuttle/Times & News a fortnight ago - provoked angry protests from councillors at a meeting of Wyre Forest District Council last week.

They agreed unanimously to deplore the loss of the link and to call on Central Trains to reverse its decision. The changes came into effect on Sunday.

Councillor Mike Oborski said the loss of the service would cause hardship to many residents but could also damage the economic status of the district.

"This is extremely bad news for the district," he said. "It looks ill if we are not connected directly to the major station in the area."

Council leader, Howard Martin, said: "It is ludicrous that we should have no link to the centre of the second largest conurbation in the country."

Passengers travelling from Kidderminster to Birmingham now have a choice of three trains an hour, instead of two, but they will be destined for stations at Snow Hill, on Colmore Row, or Moor Street, which is close to the Bullring shopping centre, instead of New Street.

Anyone connecting to many other destinations across the Midlands or further afield, or who wishes to get to Birmingham International Airport, may have to go on foot from Moor Street or consider changing at Smethwick Galton Bridge station, unmanned after 7pm.

Nigel Golley, chairman of the passenger organisation, Stourbridge Line Users' Group, said the news was positive for passengers travelling into Birmingham itself but was a major setback for anyone connecting to other services.

He said his group was writing to Central Trains and was asking them to reconsider the decision, particularly as there was a long-standing pledge to maintain a link into Birmingham New Street from the town.

A spokesman for Central Trains said the changes were intended to ease congestion at New Street and on the trains themselves and that extra services were now available.