A woman has launched a battle to keep her village's bus service which could face the axe.

Pat Zielinska, 55, of Greenways, Ovingdean, in Brighton, has started a petition to save the 57 route.

The service, run by Brighton and Hove Buses, is the only one which goes into Brighton on a weekday evening.

Ovingdean residents fear the proposed withdrawal of the service will leave them stranded or dependent on taxis, so they put the petition up in the village shop and hall.

They already have 300 signatures and plan to present it to Lynette Gwyn-Jones, leader of Brighton and Hove Council.

Ms Zielinska, who has rheumatoid arthritis, said: "I am rather worried at the prospect of being left isolated without any means of getting in and out of town in the evenings and many other villagers, including teenagers and students who depend on the buses, feel the same."

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove Buses said the service was not commercially viable and its tender to carry on running the service for Brighton and Hove Council had been refused.

The council has £750,000 to spend on subsidising bus services private firms will not run because they are not profitable.

John Ballance, executive councillor for environmental services, said: "We regret that constraints on our budget have meant we could not provide financial support for all the services we would have wanted."

A spokesman for the council said in making cutbacks the council had given highest priority to Monday-to-Friday peak-hour services.