BUS services in Darlington have been bought out by a rival transport company.

Arriva North-East said its decision to purchase Stagecoach's Darlington operations will mean cheaper fares.

Council bosses have pledged to monitor the buy-out to ensure that passengers receive the best deal.

As part of the changes, Arriva will move out of its town centre depot at Feethams, which would free up the site for a potential regeneration scheme.

The buy-out, which is still subject to approval from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), means that Arriva's weekly, monthly and annual tickets will be accepted on all buses in Darlington

Also, for the first time, all local services will be included on electronic display boards across the town.

Services will not be affected by the announcement and all 78 Stagecoach staff will be transferred to Arriva with no change to their pay and conditions.

Steve Noble, Arriva North East managing director, said: "This deal will enable us to provide passengers with a better service.

"Many people will see instant benefits, with tickets being accepted on all buses in the town, and weekly tickets becoming cheaper for passengers who have previously used Stagecoach and Arriva routes.

"Moving from our antiquated depot at Feethams will help the council redevelop this part of Darlington, while we hope to reduce congestion and pollution in the town centre by running all our buses from Stagecoach's depot in Faverdale.

"We look forward to welcoming Stagecoach staff to Arriva."

The deal is conditional upon the OFT's confirmation that it will not refer the transaction to the Competition Commission, even though the town would only have one company running its bus services. OFT officials have up to 40 working days in which to confirm their position.

John Buxton, Darlington Borough Council's director of development and environment, said: "We appreciate that there will be issues arising from having only one bus company operating in Darlington.

"We will want to be very clear that this change will bring improvements for the travelling public and we will be assessing this situation as further details become available."

The site of the Feethams depot was included in plans to build a Tesco hypermarket in the centre of the town. The plan was abandoned after protests from traders and residents.