With one bus route about to be axed and another reduced, a councillor has called on people who value local bus services to use them or lose them.

County and district councillor Philip Barrett made his plea following the announcement by North Yorkshire County Council that it intends to scrap bus service 79 and to reduce service 71, both of which serve South Craven villages.

The decision follows the introduction of revised timetables in April 2012 and the result of a passenger survey by the county in recent months which revealed low passenger numbers.

It means that 18.25 bus on route 71 – the service from Bradley, Kildwick, Cross Hills and Sutton to Steeton and Silsden Station – will be scrapped from April along with the removal of the 8.00, 16.20 and 17.20 services on route 79, which runs in the school holidays between Skipton, Cowling and Kildwick.

Coun Barrett said: “I'm very concerned by this news and would encourage residents to make better use of all these bus services before it's too late.

“I have requested the county council's passenger transport unit to carry out a passenger survey on route 71, the commuter service. There must be reasons why this service isn't being better used.

“It could be that tweaking the timetable to improve train connections or more publicity may well increase passenger usage. There are many commuters in Cross Hills, Glusburn and Sutton, and given the parking problems at the station on the face of it this bus service should be well used. We need some feedback from passengers.”

North Yorkshire County Council sent out information on October 18 to parish councils in South Craven outlining the plan and revealing that both services had, on average, fewer than three passengers.

Mary Welch, public transport officer, said monitoring of the 18.25 on service 71 showed that it carried on average only one passenger.

“Our guidelines are that the authority will not financially support services where the subsidy per passenger journey is more than £5 or where the journey carries less than three passengers,” she said.

A spokeswoman for Sutton Parish Council said: “We feel that none of them should be cut, particularly in light of the new developments proposed in the area.

“If the service is carrying only one person, why is that? The county council should be looking into that question. Is it that the time is wrong?”