Following a successful 12-month campaign, South West Devon MP Rebecca Smith is welcoming the introduction of Plymouth City Council’s new bus service connecting Plympton and Plymstock.

The Council have announced that the link will begin on Sunday March 30 and also serve the new crematorium, The Park.

The announcement follows months of effort by Rebecca, who conducted a local survey with hundreds of responses and met with Plymouth Citybus and the Cabinet Member for Transport on Plymouth City Council to make the case for a bus link between Plympton and Plymstock.

She says: “I have been pushing hard for a bus link between Plympton and Plymstock, with a local survey, meeting with local bus company chiefs and senior council leader about improving connectivity between these two key communities and linking to the new crematorium.

“Therefore, I am so pleased that the Council have listened to my representations and today announced that a new bus link, which will also serve the new crematorium, will be funded from the spring.

“I will continue to lobby the Government locally and nationally for our fair share.”

The new Plympton-Plymstock bus link is a significant step forward in fulfilling that objective. The South West Devon MP will now turn her attention to ensuring that Plymouth City Council complete the bus shelter replacement programme.

The service, which will be operated by Stagecoach Southwest, is one of 17 that will be financially supported by the Council following a recent re-tendering of the city’s ‘non-commercial’ routes.

It will run as Number 19 roughly every 75 minutes from 9.30am to just after 5pm every day (except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day).

The Number 4 will also be extended beyond Plymstock Broadway to serve Plympton Ridgeway via Sherford and Sandy Road, providing new links for workers at Langage and for pupils travelling to and from school.