RESIDENTS in Hale have hit out at bus giant Arriva for leaving them stranded in their village.

From September 4, Arriva will cease their Number 32 service which passes through Hale, taking passengers to Speke, Garston and Aigberth Road in Liverpool.

Villagers fear schoolchildren and workers will have no means of traveling to nearby schools and business centres, but a spokesman for Arriva insisted that the change will only affect a very small number of people.

He said: "We did some surveys and the number of people travelling past Hale through to Speke and Garston were very, very small.

"There were around six people using 11 buses.

"There was no way we could justify that when we can use the buses on different routes.

"We're sorry about the people who will be affected by this."

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