Warminster town councillor David Lovell (Lib Dem, Warminster West) said: "Warminster has at present about 30 trains in one direction and 27 in the other, which are proposed to be hugely cut to 24 and 20 services respectively.

"We also lose our only direct service to Cornwall.

"Services at the beginning of the day run later and late evening services run earlier. For example, the 5.37am to Salisbury is cut so that the present earliest Waterloo arrival of 7.44am becomes 9.10am."

"From London the last train with a connection to Warminster will be the 8.20pm from Waterloo in place of the 9.20pm."

The timetable is First Great Western's interpretation of the requirements laid down by the Strategic Rail Authority in April 2005 before it issued its tender document for the service.

Cllr Lovell said: "Rail users in Warminster will want to know that First Great Western, the new franchisee, is proposing major cuts to services on Mondays to Fridays from December this year.

"We are told that some of these cuts are at the behest of the Strategic Rail Authority but their consultation in June 2005 did not headline these changes.

"I would call on all users of train services in Warminster to read the proposals on the First Great Western website and let First Great Western know your views before it is too late. The consultation period ends on March 8."

The town council has issued a statement objecting strongly to the proposals by First Great Western to reduce the rail services and called for them to be retained at present levels.

Roger Newman of the West Wiltshire Rail Users Group said he felt there were good points and bad points about the new timetable but that overall it was a backward step.

"The frequency of the service from Westbury and Warminster to Southampton has gone down to one train per hour," he said.

"However, people can now travel to Cardiff airport at Rhoose every hour and to Cardiff itself every half an hour from Westbury."

He pointed out that the last train back to Warminster from Bath will now leave at 9.35pm, so it will no longer be possible to return by rail from a trip to the theatre.

A public meeting of the West Wiltshire Rail Users Group will be held at Dewey House on March 6 at 7.20pm when a speaker from First Great Western will be present to answer questions.