Now is the time for customers to get on board a consultation being driven by Stagecoach to help decide future bus routes in the Forest of Dean.

Many routes have not altered much in recent years, but customer habits have and the bus company wants feedback so to adapt services to better suit its passengers.

Stagecoach has opened a consultation to gauge feedback on a new bus network that it would like to put in place this summer.

"Our Forest of Dean routes are run almost entirely on a commercial basis without subsidy and we need to ensure they remain sustainable to help us invest," said a spokesman.

"We are calling for feedback on our first ideas for a new network that we'd like to introduce later this year. We're starting with an outline of where buses should go and how frequently they may run. The new routes have already been influenced by previous customer comments about our network and connectivity across the Forest.

"We now need detailed suggestions about these proposals, letting us know how our ideas may affect the journeys that you can, or cannot, currently make by bus."

Details are available in a dedicated consultation leaflet (on buses and at Gloucester Travelshop) as well as on the Stagecoach Bus website. Customers can have their say here: http://stge.co/bieU30nJXfH 

Feedback is being welcomed by post, email and telephone. The company are also hosting dedicated Question & Answer sessions at the following locations across the Forest of Dean at the beginning of March.

You can come and talk to the Stagecoach local team at the following times:

• Lydney Bus Station, March 4, from 10am - 2pm

• Cinderford Triangle, March 5, from 10am - 2pm

• Coleford Square, March 7, from 10am - 2pm

Once consultation close on March 31 Stagecoach will then finalise plans and prepare detailed timetables to start in the summer.

Decisions will be shared during early July to give customers time to understand the new routes and timetables ahead of their introduction.