Gloucestershire County Council is helping to support a local community affected by recent changes to a bus service.

Residents of May Hill and Boxbush in the Forest of Dean were told last month that Stagecoach was diverting the 33 bus between Gloucester and Ross-on-Wye as a result of low passenger numbers.

The decision meant there would be no service along the section of the A40 between Huntley and Lea, which left some residents with no transport options.

Working alongside Stagecoach and Newent Community Transport, a solution has been put forward to provide the link that the local residents requested.

By making changes to Stagecoach's 746 service, students and morning commuters will have a link to Huntley in time to catch the 33 in each direction. There will also be a link to Huntley a couple of times during the day, again linking with service buses there.

To make sure residents can get back later in the day, a new route, 33B, provided by Newent Community Transport will link up with the 33 coming from Gloucester in Huntley to travel back up to Mayhill, Boxbush and Lea along the A40.

The new service will come in on Monday, September 4, and run as a trial until the end of the year to see if the solution works before reviewing in the New Year.

Cllr Nigel Moor, cabinet member for fire, planning and infrastructure, said: "Following the re-routing of the 33 bus between Ross and Gloucester via Longhope, we've been working with Stagecoach to keep a service running.

"They have agreed to make changes to their existing 746 and Newent Community Transport have come on board to provide a new link for residents."

Lyndon Biddle from Newent Community Transport, said: "As a local organisation we know how important these transport links can be to residents.

"We are pleased to be able to step in to help the county council offer this new service."

The county council recently launched a new mobile phone app called GlosTalk to provide bus users with real-time travel updates. The app also helps to make sure they never miss a bus or their stop again by alerting them when the bus is arriving or when their stop is approaching.

For more information on the app, visit:  www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/glostalk