RESIDENTS have launched a campaign against bus service cuts in Kidlington.

Oxford Bus Company is withdrawing part of its daily 2A Kidlington to Oxford service from April 4.

The service will no longer serve parts of Banbury Road, Oxford Spires Business Park, Langford Lane and Oxford Airport, between 9.30am and 4.30pm.

It will be increased from half-hourly to quarter-hourly during peak periods.

Oxford Bus Company's commercial director Nigel Eggleton said the cuts were necessary to improve its route two service, from Kidlington to Oxford, via Cutteslowe, also serving Headington and Barton.

He said the service had suffered "punctuality problems" which needed to be solved by increasing the number of buses on the route from eight to ten.

The service would run every six minutes instead of every seven to eight and 95 per cent of customers would benefit, he said.

But Langford Lane residents and Kidlington parish and county councillors said many people would miss out.

Wendy Scalonl, 51, who lives in a canal boat off Langford Lane and is launching a petition, said: "The nearest bus we will be able to catch out of these hours will be right down in the village which is about a mile away."

Kidlington county councillor Christine Witcher said she had appealed to the council to step in and subsidise the service.

Allan Field, county council bus services manager, said it was in talks with Oxford Bus Company, but it was too early to comment further.