Bus link for Mundford and Swaffham

A BUS link between two Norfolk villages will be introduced by a parish council after Norfolk County Council failed to find a value for money service.

Mundford Parish Council will subsidise a minibus which will carry up to 14 people to the village to Swaffham on a Saturday morning.

The moves come after Norfolk County Council was unable to find a suitable tender.

Parish council chairman Martyn Eyles said the ability to travel to market on a Saturday in Swaffham was a lifeline for many elderly people.

“Mundford has always has its own way of doing things and to me it's all about community and providing the best service for them,” he said.

“Rural villages are becoming more and more cut off with less services and although we're lucky here that we've got a church and garage and shops and a doctors surgery, if people come to a village and nothing changes it becomes dormitory.

“I'm trying to make it a community with a community feel and for the elderly it's vital. Swaffham isn't really a shopping centre but the elderly like going for market day.”

The service will be heavily subsidised by the parish council and people will be charged �1 to travel. If successful, Mr Eyles said another mini bus could be laid on with extra routes to Thetford, for example.

John Birchall, communications officer at Norfolk County Council said: “It (Mundford) is reasonably well served in the direction of Thetford, Kings Lynn and Norwich, but the Swaffham journey has provided a real problem for us.

“We've tried to get a reasonable tender from an operator but been unable to find one at a reasonable cost. We use the West Norfolk Community Bus to serve other areas on the route but because of timetabling it can't get as far as Mundford. The consequence of that is now there are fewer passengers to support any other sort of service.

“We've been talking to the parish council who wanted it restored and we put them in touch with operators so they could investigate doing it themselves.”

The new service will begin on January 9 and pick up from three different points throughout Munford. People will then be dropped back off at their doors.