Village buses banned

Buses have been banned from Fernwood roads and will not be allowed to return until developers have carried out health and safety checks.

The new Fernwood Flyer service was started by Marshalls of Sutton-on-Trent last week with buses calling at Dale Way and Goldstraw Lane.

It proved popular, with 60 passengers on the first day.

But the managing director of Marshalls, Mr John Marshall, said he was told on Friday by developers David Wilson Homes that he had to stop the buses going on to the Fernwood roads.

He said they told him that the roads were still private and unadopted so the buses could not go on to the area until the checks have been carried out.

As a result, from Wednesday the buses have been able to stop only at the shelter on Great North Road, between the two entrances to Fernwood, until the matter has been resolved.

Mr Marshall said he was hopeful that the matter could be sorted out quickly and they would be able to return into Fernwood as soon as possible.

“We have done everything we could to provide a bus service for people in Fernwood,” he said.

Mrs Sue Saddington, a county councillor for the area, who has worked with Mr Marshall to get the service for Fernwood, hoped that the checks could be carried out quickly and the buses could return to running through roads in Fernwood.

“At the end of the day it is the people living in the houses that David Wilson has built that need this sort of facility,” she said.

No one from David Wilson Homes was available to comment when the Advertiser went to press.