A LAST-ditch bid has been launched to save a bus route running between Walton and Frinton.

The number 13 bus has been run by New Horizon Travel, but the company announced it is scrapping the route.

Bosses say the service was not used by enough passengers and was not economically viable.

But concerned residents in Walton have started a petition in a bid to keep the bus running.

The bus starts at the Naze and runs through Walton to the Triangle Shopping Centre, before heading through Frinton’s gates and down to the seafront.

John Halls works at the Community Project Office in Walton’s High Street and helped to organise the petition.

Copies have been placed in shops around Walton, as well as businesses at the Triangle Shopping Centre.

Mr Halls said: “We want to do everything we can to make sure we do not lose this bus route.

“It is absolutely vital to the residents. It may not be enough to save it but we have to try everything we can.”