TRANSPORT boses in Worcestershire have stepped in to temporary save a bus service that gives villagers their only access to Kidderminster.

Residents in Cookley and Caunsall were concerned to discover that the Number 9 and 9A services, being run comercially by Kidderminster based Holland Coaches, wre being scrapped as they were no longer “financially viable”.

But Worcestershire County Council’s Transport team has come up with a soloution to ensure the passengers continued to be served in the short term. It is anticipated that the sdrvice will operate from early June, the temporary solution will be for a period of six months and can only be funded on a one-off basis and will review the position in six month’s time.

A council spokesman added that the one-off funding includes contributions from local county councillor divisional funds. He also confirmed that during this interim period, the authority will talk to other partners and monitor the uptake of the bus service to determine the ongoing viability of the route.

Councillor Marcus Hart cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “We are delighted to have found an interim solution, in conjunction with local members, to ensure that rural passengers have access to some public transport. “We have to stress however, that the county council can not take responsability for this bus service on a permanent basis”

Pensioner Eric Bone, 93, said he still travelled into Kidderminster at least once a week from Cookley. He said: “I was told that the bus service was being saved and this is great news for us. When the bus driver told us the service would end, it let me very worried. “We have several shops and a couple of pubs here so myself and many others still need to go into Kidderminster for a number of reasons. “People can be kind and offer lifts from time to time but we can’t rely on that.”