THE wheels are rolling on a ground-breaking new bus service that is a dream come true.

The Hartley Wintney Community Bus service started on Wednesday and includes a commuter service to Winchfield railway station, an off-peak door-to-door service and trips to Basingstoke hospital.

Sir Euan Calthorpe, of the Elvetham estate, officially launched the service last Monday at a drinks reception at the Victoria Hall, in West Green Road.

The bus is the first parish council-run service in Hampshire and comes after the project was awarded £246,000 over five years by Hampshire County Council, after two years of negotiation.

Councillor Dorothy Harvey, chairman of Hartley Wintney Parish Council, said: “It is unbelievable really. You have these dreams and visions and suddenly it has become a reality.

“Certainly, elderly people in the village are excited because they are going to have a door-to-door shopping service.”

The parish council has hired Mandy Smith to manage the service, along with three, part-time drivers and two volunteer back-up drivers.

The bus will run six days a week, from Monday to Saturday, and fares will start from £1.

Villagers will have to register with the parish council to use the bus service.

Between Monday and Friday, the service will run to and from the village and Winchfield station and make six journeys between The Meadows shopping centre in Camberley and Basingstoke Hospital, via Hartley Wintney and the Tesco store in Hook. Another service to The Meadows will run on Saturdays.

There will also be door-to-door shopping trips during the week and a trial to take students from Hartley Wintney to Basingstoke College of Technology on Mondays only.

Chris Cornwell, a former parish councillor who came up with the idea for the bus service, said: “What’s important when something like this is provided, is that people come forward and use it.”