AROUND 50,000 passengers used a new park and ride scheme at Whitby in the first four months of it operating.

The new service was launched through North Yorkshire County Council in April and steadily built up passengers over the summer with nearly 3,000 people using it on the August Bank Holiday weekend alone. The vast majority of users were from the local area with 51 per cent from North Yorkshire and 22 per cent from Durham, Northumberland and Teesside.

The service finishes for the season at the end of October, reopening at Easter 2015. Further investigations will be carried out to determine whether the service should be extended up to 8pm, particularly in the busiest summer holiday times after a passenger survey found many would stay longer in the town.