Council secures new operator for bus services

Notts & Derby Buses will now run Derbyshire County Council's 147 and 148 services

A new operator has been appointed for bus services affected by a transport charity's possible closure.

Derbyshire Community Transport (DCT) ran Derbyshire County Council's 147 and 148 bus services but announced it is "highly likely" it will cease trading by the end of October.

The council has since appointed the services to Notts & Derby Buses, which will start running the routes from 1 November.

Councillor Charlotte Cupit, cabinet member for highways assets and transport, said: "We've been working hard to look for new operators for the services they ran on our behalf."

"Despite additional costs, we have secured replacements to be able to continue these services that I know are very important to these local communities," added Cupit.

'Some timing changes'

The 147 bus runs from Belper to Street Lane and Marehay through Ripley.

The 148 bus runs from Alfreton to Codnor through Pentrich.

The authority said the services would be more economically viable and efficient and would run on a "one-driver, one-bus basis".

This means that the services will have a break in the middle of the day for the driver to stop for lunch, so there will be some timing changes to the services.

Timetable details for both services will shortly be available, said the council.

The county council said that other services provided by DCT, such as the shopping bus service and Travel Derbyshire on Demand service, were trying to be appointed to new operators as well.