CONCERNS have been raised over changes to the route of the number 12 bus service in Newton Abbot, with one passenger describing the new arrangements as ‘ludicrous’.

Stagecoach said the route had been changed for journeys towards Newton Abbot to provide a ‘more direct route’, with ‘reduced journey times’ and ‘improved access to leisure and retail facilities’.

The revised service now uses Queen Street, which is part of the town centre’s pedestrianisation scheme, rather than The Avenue.

Christine Margrie, who lives in Kingsteignton and uses the number 12, said she was concerned about how the route works for both passengers and drivers.

‘It’s not easy for the drivers’, she said. ‘You have the traffic at the Courtenay Street junction, then when they get to the corner, because they are longer buses than the single-deckers, they have to go wider around.

‘It’s ludicrous. I don’t know who agreed it, but it’s stupid’.

Christine also said she had concerns about accessibility for some passengers, including a neighbour who has multiple sclerosis and uses a walking frame.

She said the neighbour ‘looks out for the little buses, but not the big ones’ when crossing the road.

A Devon County Council spokesperson said Service 12 was a commercial service operated by Stagecoach, which decides its route.

They said buses were permitted to use Queen Street and that this had ‘always been part of the pedestrianisation scheme’.

The council said the revised route would bring up to five additional zero-emission electric buses per hour along the road, improving access to Newton Abbot town centre and local services.