Five new bus routes will be servicing rural areas in Oxfordshire from next month.

More buses are set to be launched on April 15 to connect additional villages to markets and the city of Oxford.

The new routes are Abingdon to Oxford on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Cuddesdon and Denton to Cowley Templars Square and Oxford City Centre on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Hornton, Horley and Hanwell to Banbury Town Centre and Banbury Gateway on Thursdays.

The other two routes are Goosey, Charney Bassett, Lyford, West Hanney and Denchworth to Grove and Wantage on Wednesdays, and Oddington, Charlton-on-Otmoor, Fencott and Murcott to Bicester via Langford on Fridays.

Oxford Mail: The routes will be operated by accessible minibuses from the council’s in-house fleet but will be open to all bus usersThe routes will be operated by accessible minibuses from the council’s in-house fleet but will be open to all bus users (Image: Oxfordshire County Council)

The new timetables will be available on Traveline later this month.

Councillor Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for transport management, said: "I’m really delighted to be able to back our commitment to high quality public transport with real delivery and budget, in rural areas as well as our larger towns.

"Not everyone has access to a car and so public transport is essential to help people get around for work, shopping, and socialising."

The new services will be run with accessible minibuses from the council’s internal fleet but open to all bus riders.

This follows new routes introduced in November 2023, returning public transport to villages that had been without it since 2016, and scholarships totalling almost £425,000 granted last month to improve Oxfordshire’s community transportation.