A NEW bus service taking commuters from villages in the heart of rural North Yorkshire to Leeds will be launched next month.

From Monday, July 12, people living in Masham and surrounding villages will be able to catch a bus shortly after 7am to Leeds for a 9am start in the city, with a return link during the evening rush hour.

The morning bus from Masham, via Grewelthorpe, Kirkby Malzeard and Galphay, will connect with the number 36 service from Ripon to Harrogate and Leeds, which runs every 20 minutes.

Other new services being launched on July 12 will serve workers at Ripon's Econ Canalside Business Park, next to the Ripon Canal, which reopened a few years ago. Meanwhile, other new services will provide links to the recently established Barker Business Park at Melmerby, north of Ripon, as well as taking in Melmberby and Hutton Conyers.

The buses will be operated by Harrogate and District Community Transport, a non-profit making charity based in Harrogate. The group also operates the Little Red Bus - an on-demand bus service, which can be booked over the telephone.

The Ripon area initiative secured a £438,000 grant from the Government, via North Yorkshire County Council, as part of a nationwide Rural Bus Challenge.

Lyn Costelloe, director of the community transport project, said: "We have been working very closely with the county council on this to help people who have been isolated from public transport."

New 16-seater buses will have bike racks to encourage people living in more remote areas to cycle to their nearest bus stops and then travel with their bike for use at the end of their journey. Ripon City manager Jonathan Beer said Ripon City Partnership had worked closely with the county council to secure funding as part of the Ripon Moving Forward Regeneration Programme.

For more information about the bus services, contact the community transport office on (01423) 526655.