Transport charity 'likely' to fold by end of month

Derbyshire Community Transport said it was "consulting on the risk of redundancy" to staff members

A transport charity fears it is "highly likely" it will cease trading by the end of October.

Derbyshire Community Transport (DCT) operates bus and on-demand services across the county, from shopper buses to individual transport to days out.

Derbyshire County Council says it is looking at alternative operators to take over transport services run by the charity and "is keen to ensure a smooth transition".

A spokesperson from DCT said: "We haven't given any staff members any notice at the moment, we are consulting on the risk of redundancy."

"Unfortunately, the trading environment is very tough for community transport organisations," they added.

"Many of our services are contracts commissioned by Derbyshire County Council, who are seeking alternative providers for those services."

DCT has a "car club", which allows passengers to be taken somewhere by a charity volunteer

DCT operates the 147 Belper to Street Lane, 148 Codnor to Alfreton, the Derbyshire Connect weekly shopping bus service for Amber Valley, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Erewash, North East Derbyshire.

It also runs the Travel Derbyshire on-demand service, covering Bolsover, Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire.

Councillor Charlotte Cupit, Derbyshire County Council's cabinet member for highways assets and transport, said it was trying to "retender services to new operators as soon as possible".

"DCT are a private organisation so we have an advanced partnership board where we meet regularly," she said.

"I think the public transport network has really suffered with the pandemic, and smaller private operators like DCT have felt that in a much bigger way."

Cupit said the council had offered DCT a new contract in the Crich area, but the company later "struggled and agreed to give it up".

"Our public transport team are doing all they can to find operators for all of these services. We do understand how important these services are to the community," Cupit added.