RESIDENTS from a Teesside village are to hand a petition to their MP today, calling for an express bus to make an extra stop.

More than 160 residents of the New Skelton and Hollybush Residents' Association, in east Cleveland, have signed the petition asking bus company Arriva North East to provide a stop for the X56 bus at New Skelton.

They will hand it to Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP, Ashok Kumar.

The residents say the bus does not stop between the villages of North Skelton and Skelton, cutting out the busy New Skelton shopping centre.

That means local people have to rely on the half-hourly 65 service if they want to go to Guisborough or Middlesbrough.

Mary Brown, from the New Skelton and Hollybush Residents' Association, said: "Many elderly people live in this part of New Skelton. They want and deserve a proper bus service, and one that does not involve them having to change buses or having to face a long walk."

Steve Burd, commercial director for Arriva North East, said the company could not simply put in an extra stop.

"What we will do, once we have received the petition, will be to discuss the request with the joint public transport group and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and complete a review of our existing bus stops. One option is to maybe withdraw one and put a new one in at New Skelton."