STRANDED residents living on a Preston estate are calling on bus chiefs to re-reinstate a service scrapped because of parking woes.

The number 30 bus service, which travelled down Birkdale Drive, Larches was taken out of service last month, and replaced with the number 27.

Preston Bus, which is in charge of both services, claims the narrow road has become congested with too many parked cars.

However, residents now have to walk to to Ainsdale Drive or Blackpool Road to catch a bus to the docks or the city centre.

A petition of more than 600 signatures calling for the number 30 to be re-reinstated was presented to Peter Bell, director of Preston Bus, this week.

Brian Latus, 54, who lives in Birkdale Drive, said: "We see elderly people struggling to get back from the supermarket with their shopping.

"It's about a 15 minute walk for old people to catch a bus now, before it was just outside their doors."

His wife Carol, 39, added: "Preston Bus is turning away from their customers, and we want the number 30 to be brought back."

Preston Bus say that bringing back the service is not an option as the street is too narrow and could not be widened without some homeowners losing parts of their gardens.

Mr Bell said: "It would be too expensive to widen the road, and there is a high volume of parked cars as well.

"Elderly people were a concern of ours when we cut the '30. That is why we moved the number 27 as near to Birkdale Drive as possible."

Ward councillor Danny Gallagher, who presented the petition to Mr Bell, said: "A lifeline has been taken away from some of the people in the street, and I think Preston Bus should listen to its customers."