THE latest sets of improvements to buses in a North-East town have been unveiled, with more due to be rolled out over the New Year period.

On board audio-visual announcements, funded by Local Motion, Darlington’s sustainable transport project, have been introduced to two of the town’s bus services, services 1/1b and 5.

The system announces the next stop the bus will be arriving at, with the information also displayed on screens on the bus.

The next stop announcement service not only improves travel for blind and visually impaired passengers but also for new users who may be unfamiliar with the route.

It improves the safety of buses too as passengers are more likely to stay seated until the bus has come to a complete standstill, safe in the knowledge that their required destination will be announced.

The bus services are operated by Arriva, which already has next stop announcements on the Sapphire service 7.

John Rochford, Arriva's general manager, said: "The next stop announcement service has proved very popular, with extremely positive feedback coming in from passengers.

"It has contributed to an increase in patronage on the services where it’s already in place, resulting in Arriva having to introduce larger vehicles to meet the demand.

"Audio announcements keep our passengers informed so they can relax on their journey and wait for their stop to be announced. We’re thrilled to be able to roll out this service."