Sheffield to Rotherham bus routes saved using Ikea cash, says council

Cash paid to Sheffield City Council as part of the Ikea construction is to be used to prop up bus routes

Bus routes between Sheffield and Rotherham are to be saved using cash linked to Ikea's superstore.

The X1 and X10 routes will be funded over the next three years using £395,000 from a transport deal between Sheffield City Council and the Swedish firm when it built its store near Meadowhall in 2017, the authority said.

It comes as bus services across the county are being reduced.

Councillors are expected to approve the funding when they meet on Wednesday.

• Anger as bus cuts hit communities across Yorkshire

• Bus cuts will strike at heart of community - mayor

• Fears for people with disabilities as bus scrapped

Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed said: "There is lots of money that should be spent that for whatever reason is sat in bank accounts and normally that is to do things like improve highways or parks.

"We haven't been the greatest at spending it.

"We are staring down the barrel of a third of our bus services being cut so any services we can protect, we will."

In a report, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, council officers said: "These services would otherwise not be continued due to the limited budget for tendered services."

The routes are currently operated by First.