A NEW bus service to link some of north Richmondshire’s more remote villages to the main towns and their services has been launched.

The Little White Bus began running its revised Richmondshire Rover routes offering services to Scorton, Moulton, Middleton Tyas, Melsonby, Eppleby, Caldwell and Forcett for the first time. These will be run alongside those already serving Catterick Village, Tunstall and Scotton.

The services aim to link all these communities with the market towns of Richmond, Barnard Castle, Leyburn, Bedale, Ripon and Northallerton. They also provide a comprehensive service to the new shopping and leisure centre at Princes Gate, Catterick Centre.

The new routes have been established with financial assistance from Richmondshire District Council’s North Richmondshire Community Partnership and North Yorkshire County Council’s Stronger Communities initiative.

The Little White Bus, based in Hawes and depends heavily on a team of volunteer drivers and now has ten buses and a 4x4 vehicle, and is on target to carry 60,000 passengers this year.

To get involved as a volunteer driver contact the Little White Bus on 01969-667400 or e-mail uwco@btconnect.com.

To check out the bus timetables visit littlewhitebus.co.uk.