BUS passengers using the number 16 route can now enjoy a faster, more direct journey into Basingstoke town centre.

Changes to the route follow a review of the Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council (BDBC) funded bus service that revealed that some parts of the current route, run by Stagecoach, were barely used.

Number 16 buses currently travel through Brighton Hill South, Brookvale, Kings Furlong, Hatch Warren, Beggarwood, North Waltham, Dummer, Overton, Laverstoke, Steventon and South Ham.

But feedback received from passengers has shown that the extended journey time through Beggarwood and South Ham has discouraged some people in North Waltham and Steventon from using the service.

Between January and June 2017, there were 877 passenger journeys reported between Steventon and South Ham, of which only four were said to be in the Beggarwood area and just a handful in South Ham.

Therefore, the less popular sections of the route between Beggarwood Lane and Sainsburys Hatch Warren, via Woodbury Road, and Western Way to Worting Road, will be withdrawn following the public consultation, speeding up the journey to the town centre.

For more information about bus services, including community transport, around the borough, visit basingstoke.gov.uk/bus-update.