A FORMER Stourport mayor is calling for the removal of a bus parking bay in Redstone Lane.

Ken Henderson, town councillor, said the recently installed bay, by Princess Way, should be removed as it was not used enough to warrant it being there.

“At the time it was installed we were experiencing around two buses every 10 minutes,” he said.

“However, at the moment, the bus stop is only being used by Whittles buses and the Diamond bus, which only runs every two hours.”

That will change again next month, when Whittles Coach and Bus Company removes the number three bus after Worcestershire County Council made cuts to the service.

Members of the town council, including Mr Henderson, agreed to the installation of the bay at a town council meeting earlier this year.

“I half-heartedly supported the installation due to easier access for passengers and the fact that buses would be able to pull in out of the flow of traffic,” he said.

“My main concern was the loss of four or five resident parking spaces, where parking was already difficult.”

Now Mr Henderson wants the bay to be removed to allow residents to be able to park outside their homes.

Mr Henderson said: “The parking bay is now virtually redundant, with less than half the buses using it than it was originally intended for.

“This makes taking parking spaces off residents to install a bus parking bay nonsense.

“I would have thought the county council would have discussed any future changes or re-routing before agreeing to install the parking bay.

“The funding wasted on this could have been better spent on vital road repairs.”

A spokesman for Worcestershire County Council said: “The changes that will come into effect in September will see the bus stop still used up to six times a day.

“As such, the bay will remain as it is servicing a live route.”