Services in and around the town, including routes to Montrose Academy and to the Links Health Centre, are to be slashed under the new timetable, which comes into effect on August 18 and that has angered local groups and councillors, especially with the high price of fuel forcing more people to consider public transport as an alternative using their own vehicles.

Three schoolday services from Borrowfield to Montrose Academy are set to be withdrawn and two journeys from Montrose Academy to Borrowfield, at 3.55pm, have also been chopped.

The hourly link that was provided on service 47A to/from Borrowfield beyond the town centre to the Links Health Centre is withdrawn and the 8.15am journey from Hillside to Montrose Academy, along with the 3.55pm return journey, is also pulled.

The off-peak frequency of buses to/from Borrowfield, Montrose Town Centre and Ferryden is reduced from two buses an hour to one and commercial journeys on service 47 will be completely withdrawn south of Montrose High Street and north of Borrowfield, Coronation Way. The Ferryden and Hillside areas will instead be provided with a basic Monday to Saturday off-peak hourly timetable on the new service 33.

The number of peak time journeys in total is also to be cut and there is also potential for buses to no longer match shift change times at Sunnyside Hospital.

Angus Council bosses are now pouring through the fine detail of the announcement to find out if they can subsidise tenders from other operators to fill the gaps.

Alistair MacFarlane, the chair of the local branch of Age Concern, criticised the announcement and hit out in particular at the cut of service from Borrowfield to the Links Health Centre.

He said: "Elderly people are the biggest users of buses in Montrose and I think it's quite poor that they don't seem to have been consulted on this.

"I think it's a really bad sign and bad for the older folk in the town. It makes it more difficult to get around - particularly to the health centre. It's a fabulous facility we've got there but if you can't get there it's no use."

One man who contacted the paper said the news was particularly poorly timed given the price of fuel, and criticised Stagecoach for the swingeing cuts.

He said: "I've no idea how they can cut the provision when more and more people are considering and actually using public transport. It seems short-sighted."

Local councillor David May was of a similar opinion. He said: "As far as I am concerned this is far from bus service revisions, these are generally cuts in the timetables and Montrose is taking the biggest hit.

"The cuts in the services in the Montrose, Hillside and Ferryden areas are very considerable and will without doubt cause great problems for so many people who depend on local transport.

"At a time when Stagecoach have just announced increases in their revenue and their profits we in Angus are having our services cut."

Mr May said he was also to write to SNP MSP John Swinney, to ask him to speak to Strathtay's Brian Souter – a major financial backer of the SNP - in an effort to have the cuts reversed.