Trentbarton is to cut back its Connect bus services in Hucknall it has been announced.

From Sunday 2 April, evening and Sunday services will cease and its second bus on the blue route will be withdrawn on Mondays to Saturdays.

The use of public transport has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, leaving bus companies such as Trentbarton with huge shortfalls.

So far the Government has provided support to enable companies to deliver services with the same frequency as they did pre-pandemic. However, the most recent support of up to £130 million to support vital bus services across England will finish at the end of March.

This has prompted Trentbarton to make the decision to scale back the Connect services.

Jeff Counsell, Trentbarton's managing director, said: "The services seeing reductions have been receiving local authority support for the past six months. We all hoped that post-pandemic the customer numbers would return to sustainable levels.

"Unfortunately the numbers have not sufficiently recovered and the local authority support is not being continued for those parts of the services affected. For any customers who are inconvenienced by the changes, we are sorry.

"The adjustments will improve the reliability and sustainability of services. By running more predictable services we will continue to serve the greatest number of people in the most reliable way."

Meanwhile, Nottinghamshire County Council has made the decision to subsidise 11 bus services that operators were planning to cancel, however the Connect service is not one of these.

Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: "Decisions on services no longer operating have been taken by the bus operators and have recently been communicated to us.

"Operators across Nottinghamshire have told us that once the Government's Bus Recovery Grant ends in April, they will no longer be able to operate or will need to reduce some services.

"This grant was put in place by the Government to help operators cope with the fall in passenger numbers due to the pandemic and the rise in operating costs.

"We intend to step in to support 11 bus services across Nottinghamshire which would otherwise have been fully withdrawn when this Government funding runs out in April.

"We have prioritised supporting services in areas where there would be no alternatives for residents if we did not take action and our priority is making sure that communities have access to health, employment and essential shopping facilities.

"Trentbarton is not fully withdrawing Connect services in Hucknall as they will still be in operation in the daytime, meaning that residents can continue to access key facilities.

"Nottinghamshire County Council currently supports 80 bus services at a cost of £4.1million per year. We intend to carry out a full review of all services supported through the local bus budget and will look at any gaps in service provision across the county, which will include the impact of these withdrawals and service reductions by operators, including the Trentbarton Connect services."

What do you think to the decision to scale back the Connect service from April? How will it affect you? Let us know by emailing [email protected].