A BLIND woman, who was left stranded at an unfamiliar bus stop, believes the changes and cuts to the county’s bus services have been rushed through.

Kate Schofield was left disorientated when a change to her regular route into Hereford was sprung upon her earlier last month and had to rely on the help of a stranger to guide her back to familiar territory.

Her Leominster to Hereford route had cut the St Peter’s Square stop she was accustomed to using, as part of widespread money-saving measures brought in this month.

And, like the 200-plus blind people living in Hereford, this was the first she had heard about the changes – which include the removal of many weekend and evening services.

She said: “I was very stressed and overwhelmed.

“Even minor changes to where a bus stops, can have major implications to someone who is blind.

“Learning a route takes a long time, and it can be really unsettling when you find yourself dropped off that route.

“Fortunately I’m pretty experienced at travelling on busses, but I had to rely on a kind member of the public someone to lead me back to High Town.

“If she had not stopped to speak to me, I wonder how long I might have been standing there, stunned and uncertain, waiting for sighted assistance.”

When Ms Schofield did return home, she was forced to buy a printed timetable – which was totally inaccessible to someone with a visual impairment ¬– and get a sighted person to read it aloud to her.

She said: “It was only then that I became aware of the full extent of the changes to the busses within Herefordshire.”

On seeking further information about the change in bus service on my return home, I was forced to buy a printed bus timetable which, for a completely blind person is totally inaccessible “ A former student at the Hereford’s Royal National College, Ms Schofield has been navigating the county independently for more than 12 years.

Her volunteer work takes Ms Schofield regularly from her home in Leominster to Hereford and north to Ludlow, and for both journeys busses have provided the quickest and most convenient route.

Like the majority of blind people in the area she learned those routes ¬– a process which involves a guide assisting and then supervising the blind traveller until they are comfortable following the route independently.

It is time-consuming process, and Hereford currently has just one guide, who himself will be leaving at the end of the month.

The city also has a significant blind population, with the Royal National College welcoming around 200 students through its doors each year, and many – like Ms Schofield – choosing to stay in the area after they graduate.

The majority of that community remain well-connected and receive regular updates and relevant news through a newsletter – a medium which, Ms Schofield said, could easily have been used to spread the word about the bus changes.

Anika Backhouse, from the RNC, added that the College itself had not been informed over the training despite the extensive work it does with students to help them to travel independently and with self-confidence.

And Ms Backhouse said the changes – and wider cutting of services – may have greater implications for Hereford’s blind community.

She said: “There is a danger that people with a visual impairment may become isolated, with a loss of confidence becoming a factor for some, due to a lack of affordable opportunity to attend groups, meet with friends or join in any other social activities.

“Taxi fares are often too high for people on a limited budget, such as county residents with visual impairments.”