Changes are coming to the town's Service 7 bus - including an expanded route in the New Year.

The round-town bus, which normally runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays to give shoppers easy access to Bridport market, will operate on Friday, December 24 to coincide with the rescheduled market on that day. The service will then be paused for the Christmas and New Year period, starting again on January 5 with a new timetable.

A review of the service, run by Dorset Community Transport on behalf of Bridport Town Council, identified Chestnut Road, Valley Road and Coopers Drive as additional stops, which have been added to the new timetable in January - a change requested by Bothenhampton and Walditch Parish Council and the Western Area Transport Action Group (WATAG). These changes also mean that the bus will serve South Street, meaning all three major shopping streets will be covered.

Town clerk Will Austin said: "It's a challenging time for public transport, and the town council is pleased to be extending the route at a time when we hear a lot about bus services reducing in Dorset.

"I'm particularly pleased that with the help of Dorset Community Transport, we can now reach Coopers Drive - residents have asked for this and our previous operator wasn't able to incorporate it."

The revised timetable from January 5, 2022, is available here and from Bridport Tourist Information Centre.

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