A MEETING is taking place in Stratton near Dorchester to gauge whether residents would support a campaign for a local bus service.

This comes after Statton residents raised concerns over the lack of a bus service for the village at an annual meeting of Dorchester Transport Action Group (DTAG) in June.

DTAG has now organised for a meeting to discuss plans for a campaign to create a new service at the Stratton Village Hall on Wednesday, September 17 at 7pm.

At the DTAG meeting, the group said a “big area of concern” was the lack of public transport in villages surrounding Dorchester.

The situation in Stratton came up in the meeting and a number of villagers who ironically were unable to attend the meeting due to the lack of any bus service, commented on the DTAG website.

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One said: “If you don’t have your own transport in Stratton then you are very isolated. A bus service would enable those who have to give up driving for whatever reason, to keep their independence and quality of life.”

A poster calling for people to attend Picture: DTAG

Another said: “We should have a bus service in Stratton, The old people are completely cut off when they have to surrender their cars & loneliness could become a serious issue.”

Others said that villages like Stratton are being “starved” of public transport, especially between Yeovil and Dorchester.

They said with an ageing population and a push to become greener, “a bus link through Stratton is essential”.

William Gibbons, the DTAG lead for buses, said: “Having listened to points raised at our meeting and comments from Stratton residents, we thought it would be a good idea to see if there would be sufficient interest in local Stratton residents getting together to campaign for a local bus service.

“So we’ve organised this open meeting and hope that there is a good turn out and this can be taken forward.”