A NEW bus service should be just the ticket for elderly people making hospital visits.

Until now visitors to East Cleveland Hospital, Brotton, have had to rely on taxis or walk to keep appointments.

All that will change from Monday, September 3, with the introduction of a new hourly bus service serving the hospital from Easington, Loftus, Westfield Estate, Skinningrove, Carlin How and Brotton.

The Boroughbus 751 service is the result of a partnership between Redcar and Cleveland Council and the Tees and North-East Yorkshire NHS Trust.

Council leader Coun David Walsh said: "The new service demonstrates how public bodies like the NHS and councils can work together for the mutual benefit of the public they serve.

"Setting up services like this reduce the need for extra car trips and help those who have no access to a car. We need to build on this and see how a similar service can be taken into other parts of East Cleveland."

Dr Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, said: "It will be a Godsend to a large number of elderly patients who regularly visit the hospital and up to now have had to use taxis or face a long walk from Brotton High Street."