Witney residents claim that improvements to local bus routes have left them with an unreliable service.

They are planning to present a petition with more than 100 signatures to Oxfordshire County Council, which unveiled the subsidised services three weeks ago.

Winnie Mills, of Schofield Avenue, Witney, said: "We have been urged to use it or lose it.

"But from what's happened so far, we aren't always getting the chance to use it. The buses run late, don't turn up, and sometimes 10 to 14 people have been left hanging around, waiting in the rain."

Mrs Mills and other residents on the housing estates off Hailey Road now depend on the in-town 123 service, running every hour, six days a week, from 8am to 6pm.

The service, however, does not run at lunchtime -- a gap which residents want filling to fit in with lunchtime elderly people's clubs meeting in the town centre.

It is operated by McLeans Coaches, which was awarded the service after tendering for the subsidised contract.

Brian Constable, managing director, admitted there had been "teething problems."

He added: "We have been involved for just a few weeks and routes and timetables have changed. I would ask the passengers to have a little more patience and, I am sure, that if they wanted a lunchtime service it could be provided."

The 123 is one of a package introduced after a major review of the county's subsidised bus services.

David Robertson, the county council's executive member for transport, said they were improvements aimed at enabling more people to travel by public transport.