News that almost £0.6m funding could be cut from two bus routes providing “vital lifelines” has been met with concern.

Tomorrow and Thursday (November 18 and 19), Essex County Council will discuss cancelling a £586,000 subsidy to Transport for London (TfL) for the 167 and 20 routes connecting Debden, Loughton and Buckhurst Hill to areas such as Walthamstow and Ilford.

Although the council has claimed the move is unlikely to stop the routes running altogether, there are fears that commercial operators would provide an inferior and less frequent service.

Mary Nath, 69, from Loughton, relies on the routes to travel with her husband, who cannot use the Underground for health reasons.

She said: “We live at the top of Church Hill and we use the 20 a lot to get to Walthamstow, we go out to town on the bus.”

She added: “We would be lost without it, we do rely on the 20.”

Since the cut was announced by the Conservative-led county council, other parties have joined in criticism.

Councillor Steven Neville for the Greens said he was “appalled” by the threat to the services, and independent councillor Stephen Murray said: “These routes are a vital part of our bus network.

“So much for the Conservative pledge that frontline services would not be affected by austerity.”

Defending the plan, transport councillor Roger Hirst said all proposals were based on a public review.

Failing to mention the 167 and 20 specifically, he said: “The review aimed to maintain, and where possible improve, the overall level of service and save money by commercialising popular routes currently being supported by the taxpayer, whilst protecting and supporting local routes… we believe that the final proposition does this fairly and transparently.”

Councillor Chris Pond for the Loughton Residents Association said the subsidy amounted to only 20p per journey compared to £5 for some other routes in Essex.

He said: “I think it is a necessary subsidy in order to provide a decent service between Loughton, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill… without which many, many travellers would suffer severe hardships.”

Cllr. Pond has led criticism of the plans, saying commercial operators would not be able to provide a service as frequent as TfL.

He claimed higher fares would be introduced out of the Oyster card network and repeated fears of “banger buses” on commercial routes.

“On the 20 a whole fleet of new buses were bought in 2011 and are really exceedingly good buses, but you only have to look around at other parts of Epping Forest to see the standard of old buses in use.”