A TOTAL of £8 million is being invested by Essex County Council as part of a shake up of bus services.

Essex County Council will change two of its Halstead services in September after feedback from almost 5,000 residents last year.

The changes will only affect bus services which require financial support from taxpayers to continue to run.

The DART7 service from Sudbury to Halstead, which runs Monday to Saturday, will be taken over from Regal by Braintree Arrows Taxis as of September.

The service will be demand responsive, but details have not been confirmed yet.

The 88a service from Colchester to Halstead, which runs on Sundays and public holidays, will be taken over from Regal by First Essex Buses as of September.

The service will have revised journey times and be renumbered.

David Finch, leader of Essex County Council, said: “It is our responsibility to ensure that they provide a reliable service to as many residents and communities as possible, while also delivering value for money to the taxpayer.

“We have taken a consistent approach across the county to ensure bus services cost the taxpayer no more than £5 for each trip made.

“During this latest redesign we found that the future cost of supporting some less well used bus services would have needed taxpayers to contribute more than the price of a flight to Lanzarote each time somebody used the bus. That is clearly not sustainable.

“I can assure residents no bus service is ever withdrawn without us exploring all other alternatives.”

The ‘Getting Around in Essex’ redesign process aims to ensure bus services cost taxpayers no more than £5 for each trip, while continuing to support key routes highlight- ed by residents.

Bus services costing more than £5 per passenger per journey are redesigned to make them more sustainable.