The organisers of a new bus route connecting Ledbury to Ross hope to have the service up and running by Easter.

It has also been decided that Much Marcle will be included on the route.

Buses4Us, a group of residents, business owners and bus users, formed following the cancellation of the 132 service between Ledbury and Ross in February 2022.

The group is now in the final stages of securing start-up funding from businesses and parish councils on the route.

Dymock and Linton councils are the latest to pledge support - and Much Marcle Parish Council will be voting this week on whether to contribute £1,140, a figure that works out at £2 per voter.

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“Much Marcle hasn’t had a regular bus service for quite some time - which seems crazy considering the size of the village and it’s location just off an A-road,” said a Buses4Us spokesperson.

“When we were doing our trial runs for the new service we found that adding Much Marcle into the route put just four minutes onto the journey time and still allowed us to complete the Ross to Ledbury run in under an hour. 

“So it seemed like it would be rude not to include Much Marcle in the route. 

“We hope that having a regular seven-days-a-week bus service every two hours to Ross, Newent and Ledbury will be a benefit for people in the village.

“And for the rest of us along the route, having the option of taking the bus to visit Hellens, who have already made an amazing pledge of support, Westons Cider Mill, the country pubs and walks in the area is going to be a real plus.”

The new service, which has been named the 232 Daffodil Line, will stop at Much Marcle, Dymock, Newent, Kilcot, Gorsely and Upton Bishop on the way from Ledbury to Ross-on-Wye.

Buses4Us has already launched one new bus service - the 632 is a twice-weekly shopper service taking passengers from Dymock, Gorsley and Kilcot to Newent.

It started on April 27 last year - exactly two months after the last Stagecoach 132 from Newent to Ledbury.