Dear Mr Drakeford,

Might I have a claim, under PART III of the Disabilities Discrimination Act, against First Cymru Buses Ltd; for their decision to greatly reduce the 349, Withybush Hospital to Tenby service? Admittedly, the hourly service until Oct 30th was not profitable and so needed extra subsidising. However, for many ill, elderly or otherwise disabled people, it was a reasonably reliable and convenient means of attending appointments to not just Withybush but also Argyle Street Medical Centre.

If you think that I am being frivolous, perhaps you could come out of your Ivory Tower and pretend to be an ill person travelling from, say, Pembroke to Withybush.

Ask your chauffeur to drop you off near Chain Back Pembroke one morning so that you can catch the 8am bus from Tenby to Withybush for a 10.15 appointment. Push a shopping trolley to the Castle bus stop, you use it as a walking aid instead of stick. If the First Bus tracker on your phone is not working, again, make sure that you are there by 8.45 am although it is not due until 8.47.

Wow, now pretend that you are really lucky and, after various consultations and tests, you can leave the hospital at 1.30pm. Unfortunately, there is no longer a 2.20pm bus, you now have to wait until 2.55pm. Try not to get too stressed, you are ill so time is of no importance to you! At least the weather is dry at the moment.

Back in Pembroke by about 4pm. Perhaps there’s time to do a little shopping before the rain starts and you get soaked walking back to your Chauffeur driven car where you started, only 8 hours ago!

You might now want to divert some money from the Drakeonian 20mph fiasco!

Grumpy Old Man