BUS passengers were last night celebrating the introduction of new services on two of Oxford’s biggest estates.

Rose Hill and Cowley centre will now be linked six days a week following the introduction of a Stagecoach route 87 every hour.

And people in Greater Leys will have direct access to the city centre seven days a week after the Stagecoach daytime No 12 service was extended to Sundays.

The new services are among a raft of changes to bus travel following the redistribution of £133,000 of subsidy money by Oxfordshire County Council. However, some other routes have been reduced or axed completely due to what the council called low customer demand.

The money was freed up after Stagecoach and Oxford Bus Company decided to take on the full funding of a number of routes earlier this year.

Last night campaigners hailed the new services as “a great success for the community”.

Peter Wilkinson, chairman of the Rose Hill Tenants’ and Residents’ Association, said: “This is brilliant news. We have been campaigning for this from the start. This service will provide not just an opportunity for shopping but also work.”

Ricky Hart, 22, from Rose Hill, currently walks to work at Unipart in Cowley. He said: “It takes me about an hour, so the new service will make a real difference.

“The area has needed a bus link to Cowley for some time, so I am very happy about this new route.”

Claire Morley, 23, from Rose Hill, said: “It is great news. I will definitely be using this bus.”

The new services follow a joint campaign between county and city councillors, Oxford East MP Andrew Smith, Oxford Bus Users’ group and residents’ associations.

Since February, the No 12 from Greater Leys to Oxford, the No 14 from the John Radcliffe Hospital to Oxford and the No 16 from Littlemore to Oxford have not needed subsidising, freeing up £300,000 a year.

Mr Smith said: “It is absolutely crucial that people have a link to Cowley. They can do their shopping at Templars Square or catch a bus to hospital.”

There will also be Monday to Friday peak hour extensions to service 88, which stops in Garsington Road and Unipart.

Greater Leys bus user Alan Witton, 66, of Blacksmith Meadow, welcomed the estate’s improved service.

He said: “It is wonderful news. We have been calling this for many years. I now hope that people use it and the service doesn’t disappear in a year.”