A NEW shuttle bus between Chipping Sodbury and Iron Acton will be launched on April 6.

The service will coincide with South Gloucestershire Council staff moving into their new offices on Badminton Road over the Easter weekend.

It will run hourly from Wickwar Road car park in Chipping Sodbury via north Yate (Brimsham Park), Yate Shopping Centre, Yate train station, Stover Road and Iron Acton.

The No 88 will be a minibus able to carry between 16 and 20 passengers. It will run hourly in a loop. Initially, it will be operated by Wessex Connect and funded jointly by South Gloucestershire Council and Yate Town Council.

Peter Jackson, director of planning, transportation and the strategic environment at South Gloucestershire Council, said in a letter to Yate Town Council: "Some time ago this council was approached by representatives of Yate Town Council with a request for the provision of a Yate shuttle bus service.

"The request was for a new service linking the new offices at Badminton Road with the Wickwar Road car park and also serving the community in north Yate.

"The cost of supporting this service would be 76,860 per annum."

Cllr Claire Young (Lib Dem, Westerleigh) said: "I welcome the new service. I hope that by giving council employees an alternative to the car for travelling to the new Badminton Road offices it may help to prevent the parking problems that local residents fear."

She said she was still pushing for bus services for Westerleigh. Although the bus has been widely welcomed, it has led to concerns that it will result in more parking problems in Chipping Sodbury.