Extended bus service coming to Berwick

30 Apr 2019 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news

An extended bus service is being introduced in Berwick after the council stepped in to help.

Earlier this year the current provider of the B2 service gave notice it would no longer be running from May 4th, due to commercial reasons.

This cancellation would have resulted in the Prior Park area no longer being served by public transport.  

Now, at the request of local councillors and bus users, the council has been working with Woody's Taxis, which operate the Berwick Hoppa, to look at a solution.

The Berwick Hoppa service operates under contract with the county council, jointly funded by Berwick Town Council.

It’s now been agreed to merge both the Berwick Hoppa and B2, meaning Prior Park will still be covered and the Berwick Hoppa service will run for longer hours between 8am and 6pm.

A spokesperson for Northumberland County Council said: “We’ve worked hard over the past few months to mitigate the impact of this service being withdrawn and we’ve ended up with a more sustainable service.

“It can also be delivered at no additional cost to either the County or Town Council and the Hoppa service will include a diversion to Tesco's which isn’t currently served by public transport.  We hope that people will make good use of these services to ensure their on-going viability.

“There will be no changes to the Berwick Hoppa evening service which will continue to operate to its existing timetable.”

The new service will start on May 5th to ensure there is no break in service.