BUS services between a deprived estate and Darlington town centre have been reprieved for at least three months.

The early morning, late night and Sunday services operating to and from Skerne Park faced the axe from January 7, after Arriva realised they were not cost-effective.

Many were not even covering the drivers' wages, so the company told Darlington Borough Council of its intention to stop the services, along with some in the Whinfield, Mowden and Firth Moor areas.

However, the council put the services, on the numbers 21, 22 and 23, out to tender at the start of the week for a three-month contract, while it decided what to do in the long term about the operations.

And less than a week later, Stagecoach Darlington has won the tender until March 31, and said last night it would bid to extend that period when the option comes up again.

Richard Cranmer, the company's divisional traffic manager, said: "When it comes up for tender again in March, we will certainly be submitting another bid and obviously we will have a better idea of how viable the routes are after operating them for a while."

Steve Bird, Arriva's operations manager, said: "During the course of the last 12 months, Arriva North-East's costs in terms of fuel, wages and parts and material have increased quite substantially."

The company undertook a "good bookkeeping exercise", he said, looking at which services were viable.

But he said those early morning, late evening and Sunday services particularly in the Skerne Park area, "showed the on-bus revenue wasn't even covering drivers' wages costs", leading the company to put in a deregistration notice for the services.