County Durham village 'gutted' to be left off Santa Bus route

Veronica Andrews, Councillor for Burnopfield and Dipton, told Go North East, who operate the Santa Bus, that residents feared they were "the village that Santa Claus forgot."

Cllr Andrews wrote to the bus company about residents' concerns and said: "I have heard from residents about how unhappy they are, as once again, Dipton has been missed off the route.

"We are the village that Santa Claus and Go North East forgot.

"We are not asking for a regular service detour but a one-off special for the children in our village."

Go North East told Cllr Andrews that the bus would be passing through Flint Hill, around five minutes from the centre of Dipton.

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Residents took to social media to share their disappointment after they realised the bus was not coming to the village this year.

Susan Gerry said: "That's absolutely shameful and disgraceful, there are loads of children in this village who won't see (the Santa Bus)."

Yvette Best said: "My son will be gutted, he loves seeing the Santa Bus, he has seen it every year.

"It's a bit unfair to the kids in Dipton that look forward to it and whose parent/parents don't drive and so can't take them to one of the other places to see it. There is always a massive turnout for it as well."

A Go North East spokesperson said: "We're thrilled that our Santa Bus is returning to the North East this year, and for the first time, we will be fundraising for a local charity - Children's Cancer North.

"This year will be our Santa Bus’ longest tour yet, covering as many communities as possible across the whole region over ten nights.

"Our staff work really hard to make sure that the Santa Bus route varies each year to give different communities a chance to see Santa.

"We take into account feedback from communities when planning the route.

"We encourage people to check our Santa Bus timetables online to find their nearest opportunity to see the bus."