A NIGHT time bus service will return to the west side of Worcester for the first time since funding was withdrawn.

City and county councillor Richard Udall has secured the return of weekday evening bus services to St John’s and Dines Green from the city centre and Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

Coun Udall has funded the 12-week trial with £1,600 from his £10,000 divisional fund – a pot of money made available to all county councillors to support projects which benefit their communities.

The new 31E bus service started on Monday and will operate from Monday to Thursday. Friday and Saturdays are already subsidised by the county council.

It is hoped that the service will help student nurses and evening shift workers at the hospital to get home safely, as well as benefit other people working late or going out in the city centre.

Your Worcester News previously reported how Worcestershire County Council decided last May to withdraw its subsidy to several services to save £2.5 million.

Coun Udall said he and other local councillors have been inundated with complaints from people stranded since the cuts. He said: “Hospital workers and those working evenings in the city centre lost their safe route home to St John’s and Dines Green. Students also felt stranded “This service will prove a lifeline to many residents. They have been seriously inconvenienced by the cuts. It will be a significant improvement both for their convenience and safety.

“Teenagers and young people in St John’s and Dines Green could not safely go into the city centre at night without a late bus home. This service will once again connect St John’s and Dines Green with evening public transport from the city centre. It was a crime to have removed it in the first place.

“It has been very difficult and a long campaign to see its re-introduction. I know from what people have told me that they want this service and they will use it.”

Ady Culpin, of First – the bus company operating the service – said: “We would stress that we do need people to use the service and then it may become a commercially viable option for the future.”

The service will be reviewed once the trial has ended and will continue if there are enough passengers to cover the cost of operation.

For more information, call the Worcestershire Hub on 01905 765765.