A NEW bus is being launched next month to help link Wriggle Valley residents to Yeovil and Sherborne.

The Wriggle Valley PlusBus launches on October 11 and will take passengers to Yeovil and Sherborne on alternate weeks.

The round trip will cost £5, with the bus starting at Chetnole before visiting Leigh, Ryme Intrinseca, Yetminster and Thornford on its way to Sherborne, additionally stopping at Bradford Abbas when going to Yeovil.

The service will run for six months so PlusBus can see how popular the service is, receive passenger feedback and see whether the proposed stops work well or need adjusting both in the villages and in Yeovil and Sherborne.

There will be a fixed timetable so passengers can plan ahead.

The details and pick-up points will be confirmed and circulated at the end of the month as PlusBus is currently testing the route, but the plan is to allow around two hours in town with the first pick-up in Chetnole at 9.30am, leaving the town centre at 12.30pm.

A PlusBus spokesperson said: “We hope people will make the most of the new service and if it is successful, we could anticipate adding to it, but it is very much a case of ‘use it or lose it,’ so we need to get it well established first!

“We do have to charge fares to help meet the running costs but have been helped in getting the new service off the ground by a Dorset Council Community Transport grant and a generous donation from The Batten Trust.

“So make sure you hop on the bus on Friday October 11th!”

The buses are 16-seater, and there will be a regular driver allocated to the route who will accept both cash and card payments.

PlusBus is part of the ECT Charity which runs 19 other community transport routes in Dorset.

Passengers will need to register beforehand and forms can be made available by emailing dorset@ectcharity.co.uk, direct from the PlusBus website www.ectcharity.co.uk/Dorset/plusbus-in-dorset or by calling 01258 287987.