CALLS have been made to improve public transport between Wellington and Taunton after it was labelled “not good enough.”

Cllr Andrew Govier believes people are put off visiting the towns – two of only three in Taunton Deane – because the last bus to Wellington leaves Taunton at 8pm, even at weekends.

He said: “We are concerned that the last bus back to Wellington leaves Taunton bus station this early. This means that people looking to access either work or leisure activities in Taunton after this time need to get taxis back to town.

“We think this is really not good enough for a town of our size and we are looking at ways to improve the service.

“It seems that we have far too many buses in the day time when we have up to five an hour just from First. We also have a regular service from WebberBus during the day.”

Cllr Govier’s claims come as Somerset County Council plans to axe the Slinky service, which runs after 6pm.

The council said the demand res-ponse service is not well used and could be withdrawn.

Cllr Govier said: “They say the service isn’t being used but our contention was how well is it advertised and is there some way it could be redeployed to boost the service into and back from Taunton later in the evenings.

“We were suggesting that, even if there was one other bus later in the evening back from Taunton, people could plan to be there for that time.”

Fellow Wellington and county councillor Ross Henley said county hall cuts in funding have caused “real hardship”.

He said: “I do think the county council has an appalling record at the moment with public transport.

“It is dreadful the massive cuts in subsidies. It seems to me the council does not care about public transport.”

A county council spokesman said: “We are currently reviewing our funding of local bus services and are asking for views from members of the public before any decisions are made.

“One of the proposals is to withdraw the evening Slinky bus service between Wellington and Taunton which currently has extremely low usage.

“We would encourage anyone who has an interest in this service or any others to provide us with their feedback by January 6.

“All the information gathered will be considered before a decision is made in February 2014.”

Have your say at somerset.gov.uk or by calling 0845 345 9166 to request a questionnaire.