A lifeline community bus service run by volunteers has finally opened its new home.

After five years, West Oxfordshire Community Transport have cut the ribbon on their new depot in Witney.

They had been seeking a premises since forming in the winter of 2016 and finally acquired and redeveloped a site on Windrush Valley Road over the summer.

Robert Courts MP, Mayor of Witney Cllr Joy Aitman, directors, passengers and invited guests attended the opening held by the not-for-profit company.

Margaret Burden, Chair and Director of WOCT, described the occasion as “a special day.”

She said: “WOCT started in June 2016 as a concept, we were registered in November 2016, we started our operations in January 2017. Ever since then, we have talked about the wonderful dream of having our own depot – what it would mean, what an absolute gamechanger it would be for our organisation.

“This dream kept disappearing into the future, we never seemed to get there, and it was so frustrating, because we knew we needed a base where our buses could be, where our offices could be, we knew what a difference it would make.

“I can’t tell you what it means that we’re here, and that we’ve arrived at this point. It’s fabulous.”

As well as parking spaces for the organisation’s fleet of buses, the new depot also has offices for the Operations and Administration team, a training room, and a break room for drivers.

The depot was formally opened by Witney MP Robert Courts, following a short speech by Cllr Aitman which paid tribute to WOCT’s work in the community, for which it has recently been nominated for a national prize at the UK Social Enterprise Awards.

The opening ceremony also provided an opportunity to publicly thank David Miles, who was departing the organisation after five years as a volunteer.

West Oxfordshire Community Transport is a not-for-profit charitable Community Benefit Society which believes that local bus services have an important role in maintaining an active and engaged community and aims to deliver sustainable public transport services.

Any surpluses are not distributed among members or external shareholders, but returned to the organisation for further investment in bus services.

Organisers said: "Anyone can become a member and help keep local bus services running on people power."

For more information, email info@woct.org.uk or telephone 01993 630124.