Thousands of elderly people could be left stranded and "isolated" if plans to take an axe to bus funding in south west Hertfordshire goes ahead.

Dozens of routes are under threat as county politicians look to slice £700,000 from the subsides that prop up bus services across Hertfordshire.

This week opposition leaders warned the cuts would hit elderly and vulnerable people without cars the hardest.

Doris McMeckan, who lives near Hallowes Crescent, in South Oxhey, uses the bus service daily as she is unable to drive due to her age and poor sight.

The 88-year-old said: "I’m partially blind and without the bus I can’t get out. I won’t be able to get anywhere unless I get a taxi. 

"I can’t drive because I can’t see and I’m too old now. I take the bus most days and I regularly have to go to the hospital for my heart. I’m trying to be independent.

"It’s a shock that the council are considering this. It’s going to affect a lot of people up here. It’s not our fault they aren’t making any money."

The move will see funding withdrawn from 52 of Hertfordshire’s 119 routes services that run after 6.30pm, Monday to Saturday and services that run on Sundays.

Opposition leaders have lambasted Hertfordshire County Council for considering the plans, which will leave thousands "isolated".

Stephen Giles-Medhurst, the county’s Liberal Democrat group leader, said that funding for bus services have already been significantly reduced.

He added: "There will be a lot of people who probably don’t have the financial means or private transport to get around. 

"They will be the ones most seriously affected by this and they will effectively be isolated."

Councillor Giles-Medhurst said that the "blanket size fits all" method should be scrapped and instead the council should look at route by route savings.

Nigel Bell, Hertfordshire Labour Group leader, said: "The bus service has already been cut to the bone as it is. It can’t really be cut anymore. 

"If they withdraw the funding then people are stuck. It’ll be the vulnerable, the elderly and those who don’t drive who will be most affected.

"The council has been trying to encourage people not to use their cars and this is the opposite. We think they should be providing a proper bus service."

Yet the county’s Conservative cabinet member for highways, Terry Douris, defended the plans and said he’d rather refer to the possible decrease in funding as "savings" rather than "cuts".

Councillor Douris said the plans will not affect the buses where there is a significant demand, but rather the "savings" will reduce services where there are only one or two people on the bus.

When asked about impact on the elderly, councillor Douris said: "Irrespective of their age or where they might live, if you reduce a service then potentially, if they are a bus user, this may have some impact on them.

"We recognise that not everybody is a bus user but everybody in Hertfordshire does pay tax which funds services which Hertfordshire County Council provides."

The council said that children entitled to free travel to and from school will continue to receive transport. Concessionary fares will remain in place for young and older people. 

To comment on the council’s consultation, which runs until October 8, visit www.hertsdirect.org/busconsult