BUS campaigners want a trial service introduced last year between Wiveliscombe and Wellington to be extended.

The Wivey-Welly Bus User Group was instrumental in Somerset Council subsidising the route between the two towns on two days a week.

The trial started in April of last year using a minibus size vehicle with 14 to 23 seats operating on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week.

The No 27 service also took in West Buckland and travelled via Langford Budville and Milverton.

Now, the group is calling for it to be extended to run on a third day each week and is asking supporters which days they would prefer.

A spokesperson said: “We are bidding for a modest extension of the current service which currently operates Tuesday and Thursday, so that it will run three days a week.

“We had asked for a Saturday but we cannot get that, so the extra day will be a weekday and it will be pretty much the same timetable as on existing days.

“We would like to know from passengers to tell us which three days of the days of the week they would like the service to run.”

The service is currently funded through a £6 million Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) grant from the Government.

The Wivey-Welly Bus Users Group is also campaigning for a return of evening buses on the No 25 route between Taunton and Wiveliscombe after they were axed more than 15 years ago.

It has started a petition for an evening bus to serve Wiveliscombe and is collecting information on the extent of demand for such a service.

Somerset Council is currently considering how to use its BSIP funds to support a range of new and existing proposals aimed at improving bus provision across the county, including better integration with rail services.