BRAMHOPE and Carlton Parish Council is calling on a bus operator to urgently rethink changes to the X84 service.

First Leeds recently introduced changes to a number of routes as it tries to juggle increasing demand with the need to maintain social distancing.

But its decision to end all of the X84’s stops between Weetwood and Leeds city centre has enraged many passengers.

The company - which has now reintroduced an inbound stop on Woodhouse Lane to help passengers reach Leeds General Infirmary - says the move is part of a trial to ‘investigate the potential benefits for customers’.

Bramhope Parish Council, says the changes are causing real difficulties for residents.

In a letter to First the council’s Chair, Councillor Hilary Harris, said: “You have said this is a trial that is in place during a period when most facilities on the corridor remain closed but after July 4 that will change and the vast majority of the shops in Headingley and Far Headingley will reopen. It is vital, therefore, that an efficient and direct public transport for the residents of Bramhope be reintroduced.”

She also highlighted the plight of an autistic woman in Headingley who will now have ‘great difficulty’ in using the bus network to see her parents in Bramhope.