Campaigners say mothers and the elderly will be stranded if two city bus routes are cut.

The numbers 13 and 35 services provide a lifeline for Westdene residents to reach shops and facilities in the city centre.

However, Brighton and Hove City Council is considering cutting subsidies to the routes, which would see the services disappear. Worried passengers have collected 500 names on a petition which was due to be handed to the council last night.

Louise Richards, of Compton Road, said she frequently travelled on the hourly 35 service with her sons Nathaniel, three, and one-and-a-half year-old Eric.

Mrs Richards, 41, said: "The number 35 is the only bus for buggies in the area. I use it to go to London Road for shopping with my children and there is no other bus that runs to the supermarket.

"It is never full but a lot of elderly people also rely on it to get their shopping.

"The only other bus is a 27 which I can't get on with a child in a buggy and shopping."

Mrs Richards and ward councillor Ann Norman have been instrumental in collecting names for the petition opposing the plans.

Coun Norman said: "We have collected the signatures in more or less two or three days which is a good indication of the strength of feeling. There are so many elderly residents and younger people, such as Mrs Richards who has young children, who use the bus extensively.

"The proposal is to drop the subsidy for both services at the end of the year.

"This is a ward that already suffers from receiving few council subsidies. We do not have a community centre or play facilities and the only subsidy we do get is for the buses. If you take this away you will marginalise huge numbers of residents."

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: "We regret having to propose cuts to bus service subsidies. But we have to balance the performance of individual routes against the considerable budget pressures faced by all areas of the council.

"Unfortunately, the 13/13a service only has an average of two people on it per journey, and the 35 service only five.

"This lack of demand makes the arguments for continuing the subsidy unsustainable."