Man completes 320-mile bus journey from Derby to Penzance

Andrew Cowell arrived in Penzance from Derby on Saturday at 21:02 BST, spending £39.50 on buses

A man travelling from Derby to the South West on only local bus services has arrived in Penzance.

Andrew Cowell aimed to travel 320 miles (515km) from Derby to Cornwall using 20 different bus services in three days.

In January, a government-funded scheme was introduced to cap single adult fares at £2 to help save travellers money on more than 130 bus operators.

Mr Cowell left Derby on Thursday and arrived in Penzance at 21:02 BST on Saturday, spending £39.50 overall.

He said, although one operator was not participating in the £2 scheme, when he arrived in Cornwall he got a £5 all operator ticket, saving £1.

However, he also spent about £100 on hotels.

A train ticket from Derby to Penzance costs between £71.90 and £158.20, and takes about 7 hours.

One of Andrew Cowell's stops included Exeter City Centre

He said he had embarked on the journey, which took him via Swindon and Exeter, to highlight the public transport initiative.

He said: "I think it's been really important to basically get people back on the buses post Covid.

"A lot of people, who perhaps haven't actually been on the buses for years, come back on and find that actually they've improved an awful lot since the last time they were on."

In February, Mr Cowell travelled 137 miles (220km) from his home in Derby to Whitby in North Yorkshire to promote the initiative.