A £941,000 initiative will bring new public transport schemes to rural areas of County Durham.

The County Durham Response Project secured the funding through a Durham County Council bid to the Government's Rural Bus Challenge programme.

Now the council is busy developing the different elements of the scheme, which will improve transport services in North-West Durham and Teesdale.

Proposals include a new bus service between Teesdale and Darlington and a second service in Upper Teesdale, which would run at peak times and would also be available for community use.

There would also be a county-wide travel response centre, where journeys could be booked and operators could co-ordinate their services.

Councillor Bob Pendlebury, Durham County Council cabinet member for the environment, said: "This money will enable the council to work with various partners to develop flexible demand responsive services which will operate in conjunction with existing services.

"This means we will be able to meet the needs of a wider cross section of rural communities.

"The travel demands of a modern society are varied and often complicated. Groups who will particularly benefit are young people, the elderly, parents with young children, people with disabilities and people who work shifts."

The council has also been awarded money from the Countryside Agency to carry out a feasibility study for a rural car club in North West Durham.

An Access Bus service in the area will also be improved.

Coun Pendlebury said: "We have had a number of worthwhile projects on the drawing board for a while, but I have lacked the necessary funding to carry them out.