A 'very constructive' meeting was held today (Monday 11 July) between Nottinghamshire County Council and Trentbarton to discuss the future of the 141 bus service.

Trentbarton announced recently that it had taken a commercial decision to no longer operate the service which connects Hucknall to Mansfield and Nottingham city centre in September.

The decision was attributed to passenger levels having not recovered to a commercially sustainable level following the Coronavirus pandemic.

This provoked a furious backlash from both opposition councillors and local residents.

A petition to save the service started by Councillor Jason Zadrozny the leader of the Ashfield Independents, has accumulated nearly 3500 signatures in just over a week.

After the County Council last week committed to working with the bus company on alternative options for the future of the service, Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment organised and chaired a meeting with Trentbarton's management team.

Today's meeting continues the dialogue between Nottinghamshire County Council and the bus operator Trentbarton, with the aim of finding an alternative solution for local people.

The 141 service is currently supported by a subsidy from the County Council of £35k a year.

During the pandemic and into this year the Government have supported bus companies so that routes can continue to operate through the Bus Recovery Grant.

This subsidy funding which is in addition to the £35k from the County Council is coming to an end in September. It is at this point that Trentbarton will discontinue the service.

Councillor Clarke MBE said: "I organised and chaired a meeting today with senior Trentbarton representatives and local county and district councillors to discuss the 141 service. The meeting was very constructive and whilst we recognise the commercial decision taken to stop the service, we also know how important this bus route is. That's why we are progressing with work to explore other options to provide sustainable bus services in this area."