Great Western Coffee Shop

Residents from opposite sides of Bath will be staging a protest over changes to the city^s bus services tomorrow.

Operator First is making changes to more than a dozen services in the city later this month, with increased congestion and the likely closure of Pulteney Bridge among the factors behind the shake-up.

But the firm has angered families in Larkhall and Fairfield Park in the north of the city, and in Combe Down to the south, with plans to force passengers to take two buses instead of one on some journeys.

Campaigners and politicians - one of whom has dubbed the company Farce Bus - are attempting to set up a meeting with First and names are being collected on petition forms.

The firm is bringing in a raft of changes on May 23, and campaigners will be protesting at the city^s bus station from 10.30am tomorrow and next Saturday.

First is to replace its circular services 6 and 7 taking in the city centre, Fairfield Road and Larkhall with two separate services, meaning people from Fairfield Park wanting to travel the short distance to Larkhall will have to go all the way into the city centre and back again.

People in Fairfield Park use the current service to get to and from those shops, while Larkhall residents rely on it to get to and from the health centre.