Bus experiment grinds to a halt

SERVICE PULLED AFTER JUST THREE MONTHS

- By GARETH LIGHTFOOT

AN “isolated” community gained its first bus to a nearby town in a decade - only to lose it after just three months.

The number 68 bus from Port Clarence to Billingham and the University Hospital of North Tees was introduced in February.

However it is to end after next week's half-term holiday because of “low demand”, with operator Stagecoach saying it brought in just £12.58 a day and four people per trip.

Councillor Katie Weston, who represents Billingham South on Stockton Council, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service of the problems faced by Port Clarence residents for years: “There's a lot of kids who aren’t doing anything after school because they literally can’t get back, they rely on the school bus.

“It’s been at least a decade since since there was a bus service that gets people from Port Clarence to Billingham.”