BUS users who enjoy watching spectacular North Yorkshire scenery whizzing past the window of their bus are urged to vote for their favourite route.

The hunt is on to find Britain’s Most Scenic Bus Route and a shortlist of some of the most stunning journeys contains a number of North Yorkshire routes.

The survey was the idea of bus enthusiast Paul Kirby, who was enjoying a summer trip along Honister Pass in the Lake District and thought it must be one of the most scenic routes in Britain.

He investigated whether any research had been carried out to discover the nation’s favourite bus service and found it hadn’t. As a result he approached the larger bus companies to see if they were interested in supporting such a project.

Five of the largest bus companies in the UK got behind the idea.

Paul said: “It is the largest survey of this type undertaken and the results should be fascinating. The winner could be a route in the Scottish Highlands, the Welsh Valleys, along the English coastline or any number of different places.

“It will be very interesting to discover the most popular.”

The routes shortlisted in North Yorkshire include:

• 830 DalesBus - Middlesbrough to Ingleton via Swaledale and Buttertubs Pass - Arriva North East

• 840 Coastliner - Pickering to Whitby over the North York Moors - Transdev Blazefield

• 845 Coastliner - Malton to Bridlington - Transdev Blazefield

• 873 DalesBus - Ilkley to Malham via Skipton and Bolton Abbey - Transdev Blazefield

• 874/875 DalesBus - Wakefield to Buckden/Hawes along Upper Wharfedale - Arriva Yorkshire

• M3 Moorsbus - Guisborough to Pickering over the North York Moors - Arriva North East

• 36 - Leeds to Ripon via Harewood and Harrogate - Transdev Blazefield

• 24 - Harrogate to Pateley Bridge along Nidderdale - Transdev Blazefield

• X93 - Middlesbrough to Scarborough via Whitby along the North Yorkshire Coast - Arriva North East

Claire Walters, chief executive of the survey sponsors, Bus Users UK, said: “The main aim of the survey is to celebrate Britain’s best bus routes and encourage more people to experience the spectacular views of our rugged coastline, mountain passes, lakes, moors and dales without having to worry about driving, directions or parking.

“We are fortunate to still have many regular routes that serve rural communities in such a wide variety of breath-taking countryside.”

The public can vote for their favourite routes online at; smartsurvey.co.uk/s/ScenicBus or via @mostscenicbus on Twitter.

The winners will be announced in summer and a website containing details of the top ten routes in each nation will be produced for travellers from home and abroad.