I WHOLEHEARTEDLY concur with Barbara Sim (Readers’ Letters, December 4). I wonder just what considerations were tabled at the meeting in Arriva’s boardroom. Did anybody give any thought to access to doctors or hospitals?

For those residents who live along the length of route four (Selby to Goole, via Hemingbrough) and are registered with a doctor in Selby, their chance of getting an appointment to fit in with bus times is remote indeed.

Hospital appointments will be subject to the same hours, for Selby Hospital. As most ailments require a visit to York Hospital, the only way of getting there and back will be by private car.

Those folk old enough to qualify for free bus travel are limited to a maximum of four hours in Selby. Now there’s an unwelcome thought. No visiting Leeds, Doncaster or York unless users are prepared to pay for a taxi home from Selby.

Bank holiday and Sunday travel facilities on route four have not been available for many years now. Effectively there is no transport into or from Selby between Saturday afternoon and Tuesday morning at Bank holiday times.

Arriva’s new buses for the more profitable routes came as something of a kick in the teeth for route four passengers. Our buses are not exactly in their first flush of youth and we are unlikely to be treated to a ride on one of the new vehicles. I would have thought Arriva Selby overall profitability would have been a governing factor in their operation. Seems not. Each route is taken on its own merits. Which route will be next to go, I wonder?

Persistent and poorly thought-out rescheduling of route four timetables over the years has helped Arriva to lose money.

David Rhodes, The Shrubberies, Cliffe.