A partially sighted Skipton woman has called on the town’s MP Julian Smith to help reverse a decision to scrap the only bus service to Harrogate.

The X59 Transdev service set out for the last time on Saturday – although the temporary closure of the A59 between Skipton and Harrogate meant it was diverted through Ilkley.

The service called at Bolton Abbey and ran once a day excluding Sundays, In a last ditch attempt to get the decision reversed, Christine Smith has succeeded in getting 230 people, both in Skipton and Harrogate, to sign a petition.

Mrs Smith, who last week delivered her petition to the MP, said she used the X59 three times a week to visit her fiancé, Chris Hanson, and would be left with no means of getting to Harrogate.

“To get to Harrogate by train would mean changing at Leeds, which would really take me out of my comfort zone. I’m partially sighted and would find it very difficult,” she said.

She also ruled out getting the bus to Otley and then picking up another bus to Harrogate because of the potential of missing a connection.

The service has been withdrawn because it failed to make money, but Mrs Smith said it was because people had less than three hours in Harrogate, if they wanted to return by bus.

The X59 left Skipton at 10.40am, arrived at Harrogate at 11.26, and returned at 1.55pm.

The MP, who a year ago backed another, failed, campaign to keep the service running, said he had written to Transdev urging them to consider running a shortened trial service over the spring and summer.

“I was very concerned to learn that the Skipton to Harrogate bus service, which is also used by people from Settle, Bentham and Ripon, was stopping,” he said. “I have written to the bus company to pass on concerns from constituents that there had been little consultation and short notice of the decision.

“In light of this, I have asked them to review the decision and consider running an amended timetable for a trial period over the spring and summer.”

Bus operator Transdev said the service was not making any money and it had reluctantly decided to stop it.

It did not, however, rule out the possibility of looking at running a service again in the future if funding was to become available.

Meanwhile, from April 14, the Harrogate Little Red Bus will be running a service on Saturdays only, leaving Harrogate at 9.15am and returning from Skipton at 5.40pm.