A BUS operator has made changes to a number of its services in Chester-le-Street and Durham.

Go North East has axed some services, while adding others, according to demand.

In Chester-le-Street, evening journeys on service 720 will cease, while the evening 709 buses will now serve Grange Villa instead of Shield Row and will provide an evening link between Grange Villa and Stanley.

Departure times of services 21, 21A and 21B during rush hour will change to counter the effects of congestion in Newcastle and Gateshead.

Changes will be made to the late afternoon timetables on services 73, 729, 733 and 734, and departure times on service 180 will alter and some poorly used journeys will be stopped.

New timetables will be introduced on service X23 between Belmont and Newcastle and service X24 will call at Durham Bus Station and Chester-le-Street to provide direct buses to the MetroCentre. A new Monday to Friday commuter bus will now run from Washington to Durham, which leaves Washington Galleries at 7.55am, calling at Chester-le-Street town centre and Arnison Retail Park in Durham.

Bus timetables and tickets can be obtained from Go North-East's new travel centre in Front Street, Chester-le-Street, which is manned by Tracy King, 35, of Chester-le-Street, and Christopher Stewart, 20, from Brandon.

Travellers can get information on local bus services, and buy the company's Go 'n' Save and Explorer tickets and get information on coach and rail tickets for national travel, breaks and holidays in Britain and Europe.

For more details call 0845 6060 260, or log on to www.simplygo.com