New provider announced for county bus services

Two Derbyshire bus services operated by a transport charity that is set to cease trading have been saved.

Derbyshire Community Transport (DCT) will stop running Derbyshire County Council's shopper bus services and on-demand bookable bus services on Thursday.

The services which operate in areas including Chesterfield, Bolsover and North East Derbyshire will be run by Community Transport for Nottingham (CT4N) from Monday.

Two other council bus services run by the charity - the 147 and 148 - will also be operated by a new transport company.

The DCT ran the council's shopper bus service in Chesterfield, Bolsover, North East Derbyshire, Erewash and Amber Valley.

It also operated the trial Travel Derbyshire On Demand bookable bus service across Chesterfield, Bolsover and North East Derbyshire.

The authority said these services "will run exactly as they are now" and the booking app used for the on-demand service will remain the same.

Charlotte Cupit, the county council's cabinet member for highways assets and transport, said: "We know these services are a lifeline for many communities in the county, so we've been working hard to secure their continuation."

The authority added it had now found operators to take on all the services DCT ran on its behalf and aimed to "make the transfer of these services as streamlined as possible".

CT4N managing director Barry Allitt added: "It is always upsetting when an operator such as Derbyshire Community Transport takes the step to cease trading.

"CT4N will now commence working with the team who are currently operating the services so that all of the familiar and friendly drivers can continue working with CT4N into the future."

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