Rural bus serving Solway Coast saved thanks to community campaign

A community-led campaign has successfully stopped a rural bus service from being axed in Cumbria.

The number 93 serves villages along the Solway coast Carlisle to Anthorn, and will keep running thanks to school children and local campaigners from one village along the route.

Children from Kirkbride primary school staged a protest with teachers and parents, and a petition with almost 900 signatures was handed to the Carlisle City Council.

It's because many who use the service claimed this will leave them stranded in their own homes without access to basic facilities like shops and their GPs.

The number 93 was due to be cut on Saturday (18 June).

Anna Howe is a teacher at Kirkbride school and said: "Our community is amazing and they're so supportive of the children, their learning and what we're doing in school, so we wanted to give something back.

"I know that for a lot of people they will be isolated and they may need to change their jobs."

The decision to axe the service was made by bus operator Stagecoach due to what they said was low passenger numbers after the pandemic.

Allerdale Borough Council and Carlisle City Council have now stepped in to prevent that from happening, and will be subsidising the service for the next 12 months.

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