AN improved bus service has been introduced in Dalton.
The new service follows lobbying from local councillors Peter McBride and Angela Ellam.
It should mean quicker journey times for people living in the Brownroyd Avenue area.
Clr McBride said: "Originally Brownroyd Avenue was served by a minibus service, but this was withdrawn because it struggled to pay its way and was replaced by a re-routing of the 370 service.
"The service ran as a circular route, taking in Ridgeway, Brownroyd Avenue, Bradley Mills Road, then Rawthorpe Lane and back to Ridgeway. In all it was about one-and-a-half miles around the loop.
"It meant long journeys and inconvenience for many residents. There are a large number of older people live in Brownroyd Avenue and they had complained to me for some time about the indirect round-the- houses route of the service.
"I have been pressing for almost two years to get the service to run alternately in both directions in order to reduce the inconvenience to passengers and I am pleased that an improved service is being tried out."
Clr Ellam said the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive had sited bus stops in Brownroyd Avenue.
She said: "If the new route proves a success, the bus operators have said they will consid- er extending the period of two- way operation outside of the 9am to 4pm period over which it will operate to start with.
"Further improvements for passengers are planned later in the year when the bus company will introduce new buses with low floors on to the route to upgrade the quality of service."
