A village left without buses after timetable changes will see its service reinstated following a huge outcry.

Residents in Wye were shocked and angry when they discovered the Stagecoach routes connecting them to Canterbury and Ashford were scrapped over the summer.

But now the bus company has revealed a revised route will be brought back for the community and link another area in Ashford which had also lost its service.

The new off-peak Monday to Friday route will be the number 14 and run between Ashford town centre and Wye, calling at Little Burton.

It is due to begin running on Monday, November 13.

Wye residents had previously criticised the scrapping of services after the 1, 1A and 1X routes no longer stopped in the village from August 13.

But at the time, Stagecoach said the cuts had to be made as the route had become commercially “unviable”.

Ashford Borough Council leader Noel Ovenden (Ash Ind), who is ward member for Wye, explained without additional revenue Stagecoach is earning from its new school contracts, the reinstatement of a service to Wye would have been impossible.

Cllr Ovenden said: “It is important to highlight that Stagecoach are only able to provide the service because they have a bus available in the off-peak as a result of gaining additional peak time work so in order to maximise the potential for this service to continue in the longer term we need more people to use it than previously.

“Use it or lose it.

“Many thanks to all the councillors, Stagecoach and others who worked hard to lobby for the continuation of a service to Wye and Little Burton.”

Stagecoach says the new route will operate on a trial basis and also call at the Sainsbury’s superstore at Bybrook in Ashford.

It cut the service along with many others across Kent in a bid to protect against “ongoing and significant financial losses” with bus use some 20% lower than levels before the Covid pandemic.

Stagecoach managing director Joel Mitchell said “It’s brilliant news that we’re now able to bring buses back to these communities, but we really need people to use them to make the service sustainable in the long-term.

“Our instinct is, and will always be, to provide every possible opportunity for people to use buses to get around.

“That means listening to what local people have to say and working with others to find solutions.

“We always hoped to be able to restore a service to these communities, and fortunately we’ve been able to secure short-term funding for an extra peak-time service elsewhere in Ashford – which gives us some spare resource in the daytime to be able to run this route.

“Hopefully people will be able to see that we will do all we can, working in partnership with local government and communities, to get buses on the road.

“I would encourage everyone to make use of the service; the more people take the bus, the quicker we can rebuild bus networks and the less we need to rely on short-term funding solutions.”

‘It’s brilliant news that we’re now able to bring buses back to these communities, but we really need people to use them’

After residents described feeling “devastated” by the earlier cuts, the news of the new number 14 service has been met with a positive response.

Commenting on the announcement, resident Sue Powell said: “An excellent result. We must use this service - last chance saloon.”

The number 14 will offer residents of both Wye and Little Burton four opportunities every day to travel to and from Ashford.

In addition the bus stop that Little Burton residents fought to be introduced on George Williams Way that they feared would become redundant has been chosen for the route.

Detailed timetable information has not yet been confirmed.