'Isolation' in village with no Sunday buses

Residents in a village where no buses run on Sundays or bank holidays have said the provision leaves some people isolated and feeling "tied to the village".

Burnhope resident Mazel Bone, 65, said those without a car were "stuck" and villagers were cut off "from the outside world".

An hourly bus service links the County Durham village to Newcastle from about 06:30 until 21:45 during the week, but there is no direct service to Durham city.

Operator Go North East said the village's number 6 service was run under contract with Durham County Council, which determined its frequency. The local authority said it was having "ongoing conversations" with operators over concerns.

The bus firm said it understood residents' frustration and apologised for disrupted journeys.

Mazel's family has a car, but she does not drive because of an eye condition.

"It's horrendous and I feel sorry for the kids because they're stuck up here on a Sunday and can't get out of the village unless their parents are able to drive," she said.

"It's just so annoying and frustrating and it cuts us off from the outside world."

She has been campaigning for better services and said one option would be changing the route of the X5 or X15 service to include Burnhope and give the village a direct link to Durham.

Doreen Park, 74, said buses sometimes did not turn up or would "disappear" from the tracking app without explanation.

"You don't know what's happened and so you've got another hour to wait for the next bus," she said.

"When you're going for an appointment which is important, like the dentist, you need to go an hour earlier than necessary just in case that bus doesn't turn up.

"Lots of people in the village don't have cars so we rely on the bus but it's just unpredictable."

A spokesperson for Go North East said six new buses had been introduced after a £1.7m investment at its Consett depot with more "higher-quality" vehicles also being brought in from other areas to improve reliability.

They added in the past month 98.37% of mileage of the 6 service had operated and performance was monitored.

Julie Gorman Cliff, wellbeing coordinator at Burnhope Community Centre, has been giving people lifts to nearby Lanchester, where they can catch a bus to Durham.

She said when she was without a car she had an "overwhelming feeling of isolation" and walking paths out of the village were not safe or accessible.

"It's just like treating people like second rate citizens.

"It takes away people's dignity that they're unable to access something that everybody should have access to," she said.

The mother-of-two warned teenagers and young people were particularly affected.

"It takes away people's ambition if they can't even get a bus to the city," she said.

"No wonder people feel stunted in ambition, it's not even possible to be able to see beyond the end of the road literally."

Alwyn Major, 70, moved to the village with her 75-year-old husband in 2019.

"We do worry a little about what the future holds for us when a time comes when we aren't able to drive for whatever reason or we don't have a car and will feel isolated," she said.

Local Labour councillor Alison Gray has called for more funding for transport in rural parts of the region.

"Often the money goes right into the cities where they've got the Metro, they've got good bus services," she said.

The Department For Transport said rural bus services were "vital" and it was investing in the region.

A spokesperson said: "We're investing nearly £75m in the North East Combined Authority to boost local bus services, helping councils and operators cut fares and launch new routes.

"We know how vital good bus services are to rural communities and that's why, from April, we're making sure our local bus grants allocations reflect the unique challenges involved in running these routes."

The combined authority said it provided £4.4m a year to the county council "to protect routes that would otherwise disappear, including the 6 and X15".

A spokesperson added bringing buses under public control would improve the system.

North Duham MP, Luke Akehurst, said the situation was "not good enough".

"People in rural communities should not be disadvantaged and deserve the same access to public transport as everyone else," he said.

He also said he had raised the issues at a meeting with Go North East and it was "keen to improve".

"I will continue to monitor the situation closely," he added.

The council's acting head of transport and contract services, Cathy Knight, said "any perceived gaps in service" were a matter for commercial operators.

"As a council, we can pay operators to provide services where we think there is a gap that needs to be filled.

"We have been able to fund additions to Go North East's 6, X5 and X15s routes in this part of the county," she said.

"Nevertheless our funding to do this is extremely limited compared to that of large private operators."

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