RESIDENTS are organising a petition to retain the number 10 and 11 bus route, which is set to end after service provider, First, announced a series of cuts.

Henry Perez, 74, of Wraysbury, has been organising an online petition to plead with the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to fund an interim bus service until a new operator is found. The service is going on January 20 alongside three others - Service 2 between Slough and Dedworth via Windsor and Clewer; Service 15 between Slough and Eton Wick via Eton; And Service 5 between Slough and Cippenham.

Mr Perez said: “The route runs from Slough Bus Station, through Langley, Datchet, Wraysbury, Horton, Poyle, Colnbrook, and finally to Terminal 5 at Heathrow.

“Horton, Wraysbury, and Datchet will be without any connecting bus service. We don’t want a situation where schoolchildren can’t get to Churchmead school, people can’t get to the doctors, and workers can’t go to work at Heathrow. There should be an interim service until a new operator is established.”

Currently, the online petition has attracted over 300 signatures, with many more being collected by Mr Perez’s colleague, Graham Cribben, who is organising a paper petition that is available in surgeries and chemists. Royal Borough councillor Colin Rayner will be collecting the paper petitions to add them to the online version, so he may present a complete list of names to the authority.

The online petition closes on Saturday, January 6, with the paper petitions being collected on Monday, January 8.

Mr Perez said: “People shouldn’t be going through this Christmas worrying about bus routes, or how their children will get to school.”

You can sign the petition at: http://petitions.rbwm.gov.uk/busroute10and11/