A REMOTE community has united to condemn a bus company over its services in their area.

Community leaders in North Skelton, near Saltburn, say bus company Arriva should lay on a bus route from North Skelton to Saltburn.

They also demand that an express service from Middlesbrough to Whitby stops in nearby New Skelton.

Community organisations, including Action North Skelton, New Skelton Residents' Association, Skelton and Brotton Parish Council, borough councillors and the Skelton Labour Party have united to press for extra services.

In a joint statement, they said many elderly people and children had to walk long distances or pay extra to go to their nearest town.

Jean Tokarski, of Action North Skelton, said: "Not providing a service to Saltburn means an extra expense for us in changing buses and a 25-minute wait."

David Walsh, the leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, backed the protestors. He said: "Before the bus service was deregulated, the bus service went to all the villages, and tickets were interchangeable. Arriva should study lessons of the past and apply them to today."

Skelton councillor Dave McLuckie said: "I am disgusted Arriva has once again put profit before people. I, along with my colleagues, will be asking our MP, Ashok Kumar, to ask questions in Parliament about the quality of Arriva's service."

Iain McInroy, operations director for Arriva North-East said: "We have spent a considerable amount of time working with residents and their representatives in the Skelton villages to see whether their requests for additional services could be accommodated.

"As we have explained to the residents, the current overall length of the X56 Middlesbrough to Whitby route is such that adding extra stops at any point during this service would necessitate additional buses and drivers to meet what is already a very tight timetable schedule.

"We are unable to allocate such extra resources at this time, but will continue to monitor the situation."