HOSPITAL patients and students are going to be left with no transport after a vital bus shuts its doors for the last time.

The H1 bus is the only service which runs between Loughton and Harlow and has been serving the community for ten years.

But service operator, Imperial Bus Company, has announced that the H1 will make its last trip on December 18 leaving students at Harlow College, and users of St Margaret's Hospital, in Epping, stranded.

Simon Webb's daughter Simone, 16, of Newmans Lane, Loughton, has only just started her A-Levels at Harlow College, after years of home schooling.

Mr Webb said: “It's going to be a real problem- she may have to stop going. It's going to make life very difficult for students to go to college. You could get the Tube to Epping but that would prove colossally expensive.

“A lot of elderly people use it to get to the Princess Alexandra Hospital as it's the only bus running there.

“I think the council should subsidise it to make sure students in Loughton can get to Harlow College.”

Two buses used to run the route last year but the number 55 service was cancelled because of competition with the H1.

Chris Hunn, owner of TWH Bus and Coach, which used to run the 55, said he was now considering reinstating his old service.

He added: “It's quite sad that the service has been left to deteriorate. We are considering putting on a replacement service but it's still early stages. There's no guarantee. What worries us is that passengers have lost a lot of trust in bus services. We have got to go out with a new broom.”

A spokeswoman for Essex County Council said: “We are currently considering a number of factors including passenger usage of the service, the cost of replacement and how well the area is serviced by other forms of public transport so that all possible solutions can be considered.”

No-one from the Imperial Bus Company was prepared to comment.