No 33 BUS SERVICE SAVED

1.10.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 28th Jul 2008

The number 33 bus, which has been threatened with the axe, has been saved - for now.

This service connects Garden Village to the city centre via the Regent Centre, the High Street and Jesmond.

A total of six routes in the city are either being axed or cut back because operator Stagecoach says it is losing 50p of every £1 spent running them.

Strong interventions by local councillors have reversed the proposed cut to the 33 and a half hourly service is now guaranteed until at least next March.

Councillor David Down said: "Further discussions will take place during the autumn on how to keep the service running.

"We are pleased that after representations to Stagecoach, the bus operator has agreed to keep the service running until next year.

However, Stagecoach has made it clear that for the No 33 to continue local people must use the service."