Harrogate village disabled couple highlight their concerns over one of the district's key rural services

Ian and Carol Harrington from Birstwith had contacted the Harrogate Advertiser pointing out that, in effect, there were only four services on the No. 24 bus running per day from the village to Harrogate.

The aim of their complaint was not personal, Carol Harrington said, it was to try to help all the people in Harrogate and Nidderdale who rely on this bus service.

She said: "Both my husband and myself are disabled and have to rely on using the No. 24 bus from Pateley Bridge to Harrogate

"But we need some help. All bus users complain that the bus only runs every two hours.

"This means that if I want to go into Harrogate for a short time I have to wait such a long time to catch the bus home.

"As the early morning bus and late afternoon bus is full of noisy school children, there are effectively only four buses a day.

"The bus company says there are too few passengers on the bus but all the buses I have been on in 2024 are full.

"Surely, a small request to run the 24 bus on an hourly basis would help so many people living in Harrogate and Nidderdale?"

In response, Harrogate Bus Company reiterated the financial challenges facing all bus companies in providing rural services.

A spokesman for The Harrogate Bus Company said: “We welcome all feedback on the services we provide, including the 24 serving Nidderdale and Pateley Bridge.

"The £2 maximum single fare cap has led to an increase in the number of customers travelling - especially on routes like the 24 which are now proving popular with visitors as well as residents, taking advantage of the low fare.

"Prior to the introduction of the Government supported fare cap, North Yorkshire Council provided additional support to keep the route on its existing timetable in January 2023, as its costs were rising and demand for some journeys was low.

"Our resources in terms of vehicles and particularly drivers are limited: however, we do keep all our routes under review and are open to adding capacity when resources are available, and where our usage figures show that a sustained demand exists."

Concerns over access to public transport in rural areas, in particular, were raised in North Yorkshire after the county council had its £116 million bid to revive bus services rejected by the Government two years ago.

The council’s finance boss, Coun Gareth Dadd, warned recently that residents were facing “basically a use it or lose it scenario”.

He said: “No government will continue to fund buses that are not sustainable.

"I would suspect the more rural services are those more at risk. Money will not follow empty buses.”

A meeting of the authority’s executive heard that transport leaders at the Conservative-run council were anxious to avoid a repeat of previous cuts to subsidised bus services forced on the county thanks to austerity.

But bus passengers’ hopes were boosted recently when North Yorkshire Council secured £3.5m in funding from the Government which could support 20 routes in “all corners of the county” over the coming year.