Two buses a day leave the village of Fairwarp for the bright lights of Brighton and Hove - but none makes the return trip.

Villagers say the farcical service leaves them stranded or facing a three-mile walk home from the nearest stop, in Uckfield, after a day's shopping.

The first bus on the 729 Tunbridge Wells to Brighton route via Fairwarp stops at 7.30am and is operated by Arriva Southern Counties. A second Stagecoach bus arrives an hour later.

But neither goes through the village on the way back.

Parish councillor Christopher Stephens, 74, has written to East Sussex County Council and bus companies to complain.

Coun Stephens drives a car, as does his wife Maisie, 66, but he prefers to catch a bus.

He said: "I have never liked motor cars. I think they are a polluting and inefficient way of travelling. I prefer to see 50 people on one bus.

"If they were running a decent service a lot of people would use it. There are some elderly people around here and a lot of these people do not really want to run cars."

Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company ran a return service from Brighton through Fairwarp until recently but managing director Roger French said the service was aimed at schoolchildren and was stopped when the local authority made alternative arrangements.

He said there were no plans to re-introduce it because his company does not serve the area.

Helen Martin, marketing manager at Stagecoach, said: "These are the last remnants of what was a bus service. There is certainly no hope we are going the improve the bus service to Fairwarp because the usage is so low."

Arriva Southern Counties commercial director Kevin Hawkins said: "Even when a return journey was available there has been no demand for this service from Fairwarp.

"We believe the local transport needs of Fairwarp would be best served by a local minibus service contracted by the local county council, rather than a diversion of a busy inter-urban double-deck service such as route 729."

East Sussex County Council said it would look into the possibility of diverting an existing Local Rider service - a small council-run bus - into Fairwarp.

If this were to happen it would provide residents with a link-up service to allow them to travel to Uckfield and back.