A Croydon councillor has slammed the “perverse” decision by Transport for London to change the 289 and 455 bus routes.

At the moment the 289 operates between Elmers End station and Purley station.

Route 455 runs between Purley and Wallington Station. At Waddon Marsh, routes 289 and 455 currently run in a loop via Trafalgar Way and Drury Crescent in both directions. In addition, route 289 runs into Croydon Colonnades in the southbound direction only.

Under the new system, the services will skip Waddon Marsh tram stop and The Purley Way Centre.

Croydon Councillor Stuart King wrote in a letter to Valerie Shawcross, the Deputy Mayor of London for Transport saying the changes would have a negative impact for the elderly and disabled.

He said: "TfL's decision to press ahead with the proposal seems particularly perverse in the light of the recently published draft Transport Strategy which aims for easy and accessible interchange between different public transports services.

"TfL informed us of its decision (prior to going public) confirming the changes will be less convenient for customers.

"However, TfL seeks to justify requiring passengers to walk across the busy A23 on the basis that there have been no recorded pedestrian casualties at the crossing location.

"You will understand my deep concern regarding the whole process and I ask you to intervene and to review TfL's decision."

A spokesman for Transport for London said in an effort "to reduce journey times and improve reliability, we are proposing to remove both of these ‘double runs’ so that routes 289 and 455 would run directly along Purley Way at these locations instead".

The spokesman added: "Removing the southbound double run for route 289 at Croydon Colonnades would mean that the route would no longer serve The Colonnades/Croydon Airport bus stop. Passengers would need to walk 90 metres to Purley Way, where a new southbound bus stop would be provided."