CUTS TO buses and unreliable services have made it impossible for some Bradford residents to get to work.

A Tyersal job-seeker told the T&A she is being left in the lurch by unreliable bus services while a cleaner at a Bowling school has had to quit her job because her bus has been axed.

Stacey Illingworth had an interview with a job agency in Bradford city centre but missed the appointment because she was left waiting one and a quarter hours for a bus for no apparent reason.

She said: "The whole general service is atrocious."

She usually takes the 608 from Holme Wood into Bradford or the 632 from Tyersal into Bradford as she cannot afford a taxi but says sometimes it would be quicker for her to walk.

"It's been bad for years. Instead of improving, it's got worse," she added. "I used to be able to leave 45 minutes to get to an appointment but I now have to leave two hours."

Luckily in the case last week the agency was able to rearrange the interview but she said bad bus links made it harder to try and find a job.

She added that her mum also suffered because of inconvenient bus times, having to set off at 7am in order to get to her work in Bierley for 8.30am and sometimes taking two hours to get back home in the evening if public transport is bad.

Meanwhile, Ellen Warriner said the ending of the 253 service means that she can no longer get to Lower Fields Primary School on Fenby Avenue from her home in Roberttown, Liversedge.

The 71-year-old cleaner used to live in Bradford and carried on at the school when she moved but has now had to quit her job because her travel costs will have increased massively.

She said: "I'm absolutely gutted. I've been there 12 years and thought I would end my days there.

"I was willing to pay for a bus fare but it's out of the question now."

She said she has had to give up wages of £547 a month which is a big drop in her income.