TWO axed bus services have been given a new lease of life after replacements were announced for passengers in Bridport, Beaminster and Lyme Regis.

In February, Dorset County Council announced it would cut subsidies for bus services in a bid to save £1.85m, leading Damory to deregister a host of services.

Lyme Regis Town Council will now run a temporary partial replacement service for the 71 town bus, when it is scrapped later this month.

Due to the time required to register a public bus service, the town council will run a temporary register-to-ride bus service for the summer, until a more permanent and viable solution can be found.

The town council set aside £12,000 in its 2017/18 budget in anticipation of cuts to the service and has now committed up to £4,000 to run the temporary service.

Cllr Cheryl Reynolds, chairman of the council's tourism, community and publicity committee, said: “The town council recognises this is a vital service in Lyme Regis.

“Although the service will be available to anyone who registers to ride, it will be especially helpful to older residents and those with limited mobility who rely on the bus to get into town. Not only does it allow them to do the essentials like food shopping, picking up their pension and attending medical appointments, but it also allows them to meet friends, socialise and stay active."

She added: “The town council is extremely disappointed the 71 bus has become a victim of county council funding cuts. There has been support from the whole council to try and find a solution to this problem.

“I must stress this is a temporary solution for the summer, which the council, with the support of LymeForward, has worked very quickly to get in place for July 24 when the town bus service ends, to avoid residents being without a service completely.

“In the meantime, the council is continuing to look at more viable long-term options to secure the future of this essential community bus service.”

The bus, which will be operated by Dorset Community Transport (DCT), will run on Tuesdays and Fridays, with two return journeys from 10am.

Passengers must initially register to travel with DCT, and book a seat on the 16-seat accessible minibus in advance of travel.

Bookings cannot be made more than seven days in advance of travel and must be made by 2.30pm before the day of travel. To register and to book a seat, call DCT on 01258 287980 or email dorset@ectcharity.co.uk.

As well as the 71 Lyme Regis service, Damory has deregistered services including the 40, 73, 44 and 210. Fears were raised by campaigners that no replacement had been announced for the 40 services, which caters for Bridport, Beaminster and Yeovil.

A Dorset County Council spokesman said: “We have registered to run service 40 using our own vehicles.

"The service will operate Monday to Friday on the existing timetable from July 24.”