AN ELDERLY couple have hit out at changes to bus services to Dorset County Hospital.

Veronica Alden, aged 76, and her husband Sidney, 80, live in Weymouth and regularly have to visit the Dorchester hospital on the number 10 First bus.

Recent changes mean the service, as well as other routes serving the hospital, now does not go directly into the hospital site and passengers are now dropped off at a temporary stop on Bridport Road.

First says this is because of the time it took for buses to go into the hospital site itself.

Mrs Alden, who has breathing difficulties, said: "They have rescheduled all the buses so they don't go into the hospital at any time but they get passengers to alight on Bridport Road.

"You then have to find your own way around the wall of the hospital and into the main entrance.

"On the return journey you have to find your way onto Bridport Road and then walk a good 100 metres up the road to the bus stop.

"For people like myself with breathing difficulties and my husband in a wheelchair it's just incredibly hard.

"I do not understand their thinking, for years that bust went in without a problem and now they are saying the buses have no turning space."

Mrs Alden said the experience was also made worse by the fact the bus now went via Poundbury on the return journey, adding around half an hour to the trip.

A First spokesperson said: "The situation at the hospital forecourt has increasingly become an issue for us. This is because we have had buses trapped there for more than 30 minutes on a regular basis.

"We originally asked for alternative provision to be made for disabled parking in the area, which had been the cause of our buses being delayed. However, this was not seen as the way forward by the hospital.

"As a result, we have agreed to divert Service 10 to Bridport Road with the journeys going on to Poundbury to enable the buses to turn around.

"Discussions have been ongoing with Dorset County Council and the hospital about creating a new lay-by adjacent to the walkway entrance into the hospital from Bridport Road. This will allow level covered access into the hospital grounds.

"A temporary bus stop has now been installed at this location while the work is undertaken.

"Service 10 now operates every 10 minutes, Monday to Friday, and continues to provide a valued connection to the hospital."

A spokesperson for Dorset County Hospital added: "Moving the disabled parking area from outside the main entrance to the hospital obviously wasn’t an option so we have been working with Dorset County Council to provide an alternative bus stop.

"Passengers can now get off the bus in Bridport Road and enter the hospital via a covered walkway by the day surgery unit.

"This temporary bus stop will be replaced by a lay-by with a shelter as soon as possible."