THE operator of Aberystwyth’s park-and-ride service has announced the company will run a reduced replacement service to try and mitigate the loss - but it is only guaranteed for the next four months.

While the decision by Mid Wales Travel to run the alternative service has been welcomed, there has been criticism of Ceredigion County Council’s handling of the situation, with Aberystwyth councillor Ceredig Davies insisting the council had left service users “worrying for months”.

Mel Evans, of Mid Wales Travel, said the Transport Commissioner had allowed the new service to be registered quickly to allow it to operate from Thursday, 1 September, after the current park-and-ride service ends on the evening of Wednesday, 31 August.

The new service, which is called the 503 service, will run on the same route as the former park-and-ride, but will start running an hour later at 9am instead of 8am, and have a final service at 2.30pm. The 503 service will run every 30 minutes, instead of the current 20 minutes for the park-and-ride, and will initially operate until the end of December.

Mr Evans said he needed to ensure the service was “affordable” for the company.

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