VILLAGES, hamlets and housing estates across Oxfordshire were left high and dry last year when Oxfordshire County Council axed funding to more than 50 bus services which it had been subsidising for years.

Now, a town mayor has come up with a novel solution: starting his own.

Mayor of Wantage Steve Trinder and the rest of the town council have forked out £6,000 from its funds to start a new bus service around the town.

The new route serves Stockham Park, Charlton Heights and other parts of town that no longer have a commercial bus service, and links them once again to the town centre.

For elderly and disabled residents and parents with young children, the town council hope it could be life-changing.

The vehicle itself is actually the county council's own Comet bus, which takes elderly people to and from day centres in the morning and evenings, but is free during the day.

Mr Trinder explained that when he realised the bus was at a loose end in the middle of the day he immediately spotted an opportunity.

The father-of-two said: "I was obviously concerned about the loss of bus services in our area, but then it turned out the county had these buses which you can book.

"They're great because they're only 16 seaters but they're wheelchair accessible and just the job for us.

"I thought 'this is great – we can do that'."

Actually, although the town council had stumped up the funding to run the bus, it asked the team at Wantage Independent Advice Centre to do the organising.

Over the summer, centre manager Wendy Watson and her team, who already run a transport service for the elderly, have got the new service up and running.

The first bus set off on its route on Wednesday, August 30, and will run each Wednesday.

Mr Trinder added: "Wendy spent months getting it together and has done a great job."

Users have to sign up to become members of the Wantage Transport Service.

They can do this by filling out a simple application form at the advice centre in Market Place.

Members pay £13 to get a ticket for 12 journeys which they can use when they want.

The service which is running now is actually a trial, with a view to expanding it in future if it's successful.

In the pilot there are three different routes, each running twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon every Wednesday.

The town council's £6,000 grant will keep the bus running for the first year, but the council are hoping it could eventually pay for itself.