West Worcestershire MP Dame Harriett Baldwin has called for a fresh approach to improve local bus service coverage.

And the MP met with Worcestershire County Councillor Marc Bayliss to discuss proposals to enhance coverage across the Malvern Hills area as well as adding services in the evenings and at weekends.

Councillor Bayliss is in charge of the county’s bus services and holds the keys to a £3.4 million fund which has been ring-fenced for delivering improvements to provision across the county.

Dame Harriett shared feedback from constituents and offered suggestions for areas improvement, including the main service between Worcester and Malvern, services around the west of the town and improved connections for Tenbury, Upton-upon-Severn, Kempsey and Pershore.

Dame Harriett said:

“Over the last year, I have collected a range of opinions from local people about the areas where bus services need to be improved.

“I am keen to see the ‘on demand’ service enhanced to allow more people to take advantage of it and ensure that it is easy to access for people of all ages.

“The 44 service needs to be run with more evening services and a comprehensive weekend schedule and I have asked for a plan to replace services that were shut down during the pandemic, like the X43 route around the west of Malvern.

“I strongly believe that buses must be part of our carbon-neutral commuting future and it is essential that the county council embraces this challenge by delivering more services.”

Councillor Bayliss added:

“It was great to meet Dame Harriett and discuss how we can work together to improve bus services across the county.  The new on demand service provides great opportunities to increase the coverage of our bus service and I will continue to explore ways of increasing coverage in the evening and at weekends.”

Photo: Dame Harriett Baldwin shares her bus service requests with Councillor Marc Bayliss