Waltham Forest council has said it supports a commuter's petition to retain the 558 after August 30

Waltham Forest council said it supports Kelly Harrison's petition to retain the 558 bus from Chingford Mount to Seven Sisters after August 30.

The temporary 'express' route was put on by Transport for London (TfL) to help commuters affected by the three-week Victoria line closure.

It runs every 6 to 10 minutes throughout the week and takes the same route as the popular 158, stopping at all stations from south Chingford to Blackhorse Road station, but then continues onto Tottenham Hale and Seven Sisters Tube stations.

The petition was set up by Ms Harrison, 40, of Manor Road, Walthamstow, on Friday and has almost 300 signatures.

She said it is important TfL keep the 558 as the area it serves is not well-connected by transport links, the 158 struggles to cope and she fears it will become "unbearable" with the influx of thousands of new homes being built locally.

Responding to the petition, deputy leader councillor Clyde Loakes, said: "Waltham Forest supports the petition and will lobby TfL to keep the 558 bus route between Chingford to Seven Sisters.

"The route which was temporarily implemented by TfL during the Victoria Line closures would provide our residents with increased commuting options particularly around areas of high housing growth such as Blackhorse Lane."

Speaking on behalf of Higham Hill ward councillors, cllr Alistair Strathern, added: "We are supporting this petition as we know the extended route has been a big help to our residents, and have asked the council to press TfL to commit to review the usage figures during the Victoria Line closure to see whether this could become a permanent extension to the route."

TfL's head of network development for buses, John Barry, said there are "no plans to retain the 558" after Sunday as he believes the majority of commuters will return to using the Tube services.

However, he added: "We are aware of requests for additional bus links in the area and will continue to bear this in mind, particularly as and when new residential developments are completed."