A village left without a regular daytime bus service will see the route reinstated following complaints.

Residents in Lympne, near Hythe, were upset when they discovered the Stagecoach routes connecting them to Folkestone, Hythe and Ashford were scrapped over the summer.

But now the bus company has revealed a revised route will be brought back to reconnect the community and ensure they can travel to surrounding towns and the William Harvey Hospital.

Although school-time buses have continued to run, the village has been without a regular daytime service since the beginning of September, with Stagecoach citing rising costs and fewer passengers.

The new Monday to Friday route will be the number 10 and will run hourly via Lympne from Monday, November 13, initially on a trial basis.

Stagecoach’s managing director, Joel Mitchell said: “I’m pleased we can now bring buses back to Lympne, but we do need people to use them to secure the long-term future of the service.

“Where there’s no local authority funding available to help support a bus service, and passenger numbers outside of school flows have reduced since the pandemic; it’s a difficult problem to solve.

“But we now have some extra service commitments that we’re running on behalf of the County Council in the Ashford area, which mean we’ve been able to rework our bus schedules to create enough scope to restore an hourly daytime service in the village.

“We’ve been impressed by the level of support for a bus service expressed by the local community, and also the leadership Folkestone & Hythe District Council has shown in recognising the importance of buses for sustainable transport in the district.

“As a result, I feel confident enough to place a commercial service back through Lympne, initially on a trial basis.”

The route was one of 11 cut at the start of September, several of which have now been reinstated.

This followed considerable outcry from those affected by the axing of the services.

Councillor Jim Martin, leader of Folkestone & Hythe District Council, said: “We are very pleased to have this service restored.

“Councillors received many complaints about changes and reductions in service and we have taken these to Stagecoach.

“Along with residents of Lympne we are very grateful that the company has been able to bring back the daytime buses and we fully recognise that this service must be used to protect its future. It is quite simple – use it or lose it.”

The u-turn comes after Wye, near Ashford, had its bus services reinstated following a huge outcry from residents.

The village was left without any buses following the move announced over summer, but a revised route was brought back earlier this month.