Door to Door services under threat

Last night's executive Committee Meeting of Bedford Borough Council refused the Liberal Democrat Group's last ditch attempt to save the funding for the Door to Door service. "This is a hammer blow to the people who rely on Door to Door." Said Liberal Democrat Leader Michael Headley. "Last year alone Door to Door carried nearly 30,000 passengers. Without the borough grant the future of the service is in doubt. Door to Door will not be able to plan ahead because they can no longer rely on any funding from the borough council." The decision to force Door to Door to join the struggle to try to grab some of the, already oversubscribed, One -Off money was made despite the fact that last year the Borough guaranteed to give them a minimum grant of £27,000. "Passing the buck to the County council is little more than a smoke screen. I am shocked at the way the Labour group so carelessly threw away this valuable service." The Labour group tried to justify their decision to remove Door to Door's funding by saying that it was the County Council's responsibility to pay and that they should be forced to do so. "I was disappointed by the obvious ignorance of certain members of the executive committee, who had no grasp of the scale of help Door to Door provide or the number of Bedfordians who rely upon the service."