CONCERNS have been raised that a restored bus service between Wiveliscombe and Wellington may not be given a fair trial.

Transport campaigners the Wivey-Welly Bus User Group welcomed the restoration of a No 27 service from Wiveliscombe to Wellington, via Milverton, Langford Budville, and West Buckland.

The No 27 route will use a minibus and will run twice weekly from April 22.

But, a spokesperson for the group said: “We are concerned that with it operating only two days per week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and only three services per day, this may not give the trial a fair run.

“It will need to be strongly promoted to ensure people use it.

“We have been campaigning for the reinstatement of a service between Wellington and Wiveliscombe and so are pleased to see the minibus trial being introduced by Somerset Council.”

The group also welcomed improvements to the No 25 Wiveliscombe to Dulverton route, although it failed in a bid for a substantial increase in the frequency of buses.

The spokesperson said: “We have achieved some modest improvements to last year’s highly dysfunctional timetable, and we welcome the splitting of the 25 service into a 25A terminating at Wivey and the new service 26 running on to Dulverton.

“We support splitting the 25 service at Wiveliscombe with a new 26 service operating from Dulverton to Wiveliscombe, which we hope will mean improved reliability.

“Smaller buses along this challenging part of the route are more appropriate as well for the number of passengers using the service.”

Its campaign was supported through a working group of Somerset Council’s Local Community Network for the area which was led by Cllr Dave Mansell and backed by the Somerset Bus Partnership.

Somerset Council has not yet said for how long it will trial the new No 27 bus before the service is reviewed.