A BRIDPORT pensioner who saved a bus service after he offered to fund it from his own pocket has received a prestigious award from transport campaigners.

Alan Williams received a medal at the House of Commons during a parliamentary reception after being named Better Transport Champion 2022 by the Campaign for Better Transport.

As reported, Mr Williams offered to finance First’s X53 Sunday service between Lyme Regis, Bridport and Weymouth out of his own pocket after it was scrapped over the winter season.

However, after Mr William’s generous offer, the bus operator decided to fund the Sunday service again.

The Bridport pensioner was willing to pay for two full services on Sundays from January 23 until March, when the summer timetable is reinstated, but First backtracked on its decision to cut the service and fully covered the cost instead.

On receiving the medal, Mr Williams said: “I felt very elated obviously - it’s nice of them to acknowledge the work some of us do to keep local transport running.”

Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

On offering to fund the bus service he said: “I just want to give the community their bus service and to encourage people to use it more.

“I hope it also encourages bus companies to keep such services."

He added: “People still need to travel on Sundays. Some people have got places to be or they have to work and don’t have cars so this service is a lifeline.”

Solman Khan from Campaign for Better Transport said: “Alan is the deserved winner of Campaign for Better Transport’s ‘Better Transport Champion 2022’ for his work saving his local bus service.

“Without Alan’s intervention I have no doubt that the service would have been cut, leaving the community without a usable public transport network.

“We were extremely pleased Alan was able to join us in London to receive his award at the House of Commons and we hope that the bus service he helped to save will continue to be an integral part of community life for years to come.”

First traditionally funds the X53 service except for ten Sundays from January to March when it said there is 'significantly less demand, making the service commercially unviable during this period’.

Thanks to Mr Williams’ intervention the company financed the service on those days this year in what the bus operator described at the time as ‘a very unusual situation in Dorset, where they have worked closely with Mr Williams to find a solution to maintain a reduced winter Sunday service that benefits the community’.

Since 1973, the Campaign for Better Transport has led calls for improvements to the country’s transport networks, campaigning for transport which is greener, more affordable and easier to use.