With a number of national shopping chains announcing dedicated early morning shopping sessions for the elderly and vulnerable, Kent County Council has moved to ensure that the would-be shoppers can get there.

Usually older and disabled travellers can only use their bus passes in off-peak times - after 9.30am.

But KCC has negotiated with five bus companies - Stagecoach, Arriva, Go Coach, RedRoute and Nu-Venture - and during the coronavirus crisis, they will be able to use their passes before 9.30am too.

KCC cabinet member for highways and transport Michael Payne said: “I’m very grateful to Stagecoach, Arriva, Go Coach and Nu-Venture who have worked with us to extend the use of the bus pass on their services before 9.30am.

“This is something that will be extremely helpful during a time when some shops are opening early specifically for the older generation to support them during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“Our public transport team is working hard to extend this to other operators in the coming days.

“This change will come into force tomorrow morning (Thursday) and I’m very happy that we have been able to support those in our community during this period of disruption.”

Kent County Council has a statutory duty to provide passes for free bus travel throughout England for older and disabled people under the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS).

More than 250,000 people in the county have a bus pass, with around 227,000 for older people and 22,000 for the disabled.

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