Cllr Ann John lends her support to campaign to get bus route 206 back on the St Raphael’s Estate

The leader of Brent Council has thrown her weight behind a campaign to reinstate a bus route that was axed from a Neasden estate.

Furious resident living on the St Raphael’s Estate have vowed to continue the fight to get the 206 back following a meeting last week in which Cllr Ann John OBE said she backed their crusade.

Last year, the Times reported that residents were being forced to walk for up to 20 minutes to catch buses and cross the busy North Circular Road after Transport for London (TfL) axed the estate from the bus’s route.

More than 50 residents were joined by Cllr John, who is also the councillor for the estate and Navin Shah, London Assembly member for Brent and Harrow.

Cllr John said residents had her ‘full support’, adding: “It was great to see so many people from the community coming together to campaign for something that affects a lot of people.

“I think TfL have agreed to meet with them (the residents again) again so it’s fantastic that they have got them to listen.”

Brenda Linton, vice-chair of St Raphael’s Residents Association, who organised the meeting, said they would continue to fight on.

She added: “St Raphael’s has a lot of petty crime but the biggest crime committed was removing the 2O6 from our estate.”

Bob Blitz, Network Planning Manager at TfL said the changes followed a ‘detailed review and consultation’ and that most residents were in favour of them.