A START date and final timetable has been set down for a special bus service to be laid on for vulnerable people isolated by the axing of routes in two communities.

Residents and ward councillors started campaigns when Thamesdown Transport cut service 21, for Penhill and Pinehurst, and service 23, which ran through Coleview.

Swindon Council is to pay £14,994 for the bus firm to provide an off-peak service for Coleview and the Penhill Valley for a up to a year while long-term solutions are sought.

The new service 21 will start on April 30 and will visit Sainsbury’s Stratton, Nythe Road Shops, Covingham Square, Greenbridge Retail Park, Fleming Way, Tesco in Ocotal Way, St Barnabas Church in Gorse Hill, The Circle in Pinehurst, and Downton Road in Penhill.

Council leader Coun Rod Bluh, said: “I am really pleased we have been able to find a temporary solution for people living in Penhill and Coleview so they have access to shopping centres and the town centre.”

The new timetable will be available in Thamesdown Transport’s leaflets, on its website and at bus stops.