BUS times on more than 40 services will be changed next weekend.

Go North East is planning minor revisions on routes in County Durham and Tyne and Wear, mainly because of increasing traffic congestion.

It says the changes, which are effective from next Saturday, were designed with input from bus users and are expected to improve the reliability and efficiency of many journeys.

Company spokesman Andrew Nash said: "We strive to provide our customers with the highest possible standard of public transport.

"The key to this is ensuring services are reliable.

"Various factors beyond our control adversely affect reliability, most notably increasing traffic congestion.

"As such, it has been necessary to slightly re-time and revise a number of our services to combat this and we are confident these minor changes will enable us to maintain the high service levels we currently deliver."

The services affected are: 21, 21A, 21B, 35, 35A, 36, 45, 46, 46A, 154, 160, 161, 163, 183, 185, 186, 187, 188, 220, 222, 291, 391, 392, 493, 551, 721, 723, 725, 726, 777, 775, 778, 709, W4, W5, W6, X2, X6, X8, X61, X64 and X95.

Details will be displayed on buses and comprehensive timetable guides will be distributed within affected areas.

Information is available from www.simplygo.com or by ringing (0845) 60 60 2 60.

The firm recently raised some fares by between 2p and 10p, single, and between 5p and 25p, for returns.