I welcome the fact that the Arriva 324 bus service has been replaced by a new set of bus services – organised by the Passenger Transport Unit at County Hall – and that the new services offer the prospect of a much better service for all the people who rely upon it to get into Watford town centre and to Watford District General Hospital.

What this demonstrates is the power of a community working together – or sometimes even separately – and what they can achieve when they put their mind to it.

As the party of working people, Watford Labour Party expended considerable effort in persuading Hertfordshire County Council and Watford Borough Council to step forward to take on their responsibilities to provide a decent bus service for people living in Garston, Meriden and Tudor wards.

In truth, this could not have been achieved without the active involvement of people from a number of political parties and without the active support of local government officers at all levels, as well as the Red Eagle, Red Rose and Uno bus companies.

Our campaign called upon Hertfordshire County Council and Watford Borough Council to financially support the provision of a decent bus service in the area and I am very pleased to see that they have both responded to this appeal.

There are many others – individual party members and the Watford Observer itself – which have to be thanked for this welcome outcome.

The work of Meriden Residents Association and its principal officers in bringing this issue to public light should be acknowledged too.

The greatest of thanks goes to all those many thousands of local residents who signed petitions and took them round to their friends and neighbours in areas stretching from Kingswood to Maple Cross. Without them, the new service would never have come into existence.

This has been a very welcome example of a community in action – and long may it continue to survive and thrive in the wider Watford area.

John Dowdle

Team Leader

Labour Meriden and Tudor Action Team