Reprieve for bus service to Lakes

For several years, the x85 bus has operated every Saturday in the summer, leaving Durham bus station in the morning and travelling through Weardale and Alston to Cumbria.

It has provided a vital service for hikers, families, the elderly and those unable to drive. The bus made several stops before arriving at Kendal and returning the same day.

Arriva, which runs the service, has decided to cancel it as part of a cutback on services linking the North-East with other regions.

The news was greeted with dismay by regular passengers, including Tony Elton, 67, of Witton Gilbert, near Durham, who only learned of the decision by chance, during a phone call to Arriva.

He claimed the service was growing in popularity and that without it he would have no means of travelling to the Lake District.

The chairman of Stanhope Parish Council, Councillor Diana Sutcliff, also called for a rethink.

She said it was ironic that the service was being axed just as tourism was being highlighted as a means of revitalising the area. She said Arriva should have publicised the service better and applied for grants.

Durham County councillor John Shuttleworth, independent member for Weardale, has now intervened and the service looks likely to be saved.

A council spokesman said: "What is certain at present is that Arriva are not interested in providing the service again this year, but that part of the route has always been subsidised by Durham County Council.

"Durham County Council is talking to other operators to provide what is likely to be a similar service through subsidy."

Coun Shuttleworth said: "When you haven't got your own transport, you can't get far when you are living in some parts of the Dales.

"Certainly, people in the Dales are keen to use the service as a means of getting over to Cumbria."

Mr Elton said: "I'm delighted, and I know that everyone else who is a keen x85 traveller will also be pretty pleased.