PASSENGERS are furious that a timetable review has doubled their journey times by increasing the length of the bus route.

Thelma Padget stopped using the service after it took more than an hour to travel ten miles from Stokesley to Middlesbrough town centre.

The 66-year-old, of Roseberry Avenue, Stokesley, said: "What once was a 30 minute service now can take well over an hour if the bus hits all the traffic lights as it comes in to the town. People have more or less given up on the service.

"If one of the two remaining services could be changed to a more direct route then people would start to get on the bus again.

"It is just ridiculous, I can get to York quicker than I can get to Middlesbrough.

"We are permanently being told to use public transport more often but when the services are this poor it's no wonder people would rather drive."

Christine Ridgeway, of Crowood Avenue, Stokesley, said: "One hour thirty minutes from my home to Middlesbrough, that's a three-hour round trip. I now understand why people don't use buses.

John Fozzard, spokesman for Arriva, said the changes were part of a major network evaluation of Arriva services.

He said: "How people travel has changed. We based the network needs to reflect how the majority of people want to travel.

"There is a small proportion of people who are not happy, but for the majority of people the new network has provided fantastic, quick routes to get from Stockton to Middlesbrough."

He said the company had examined how each service was used prior to the changes, adding: "If there was a substantial amount using that route that would have been taken in to account, but if it was not being used then the changes have reflected that."