Machynlleth residents deserve answers about what Powys County Council chiefs are doing to reinstate the town’s bus service, councillors have said.

The town centre service was stopped in September after an error by Powys County Council saw them fail to put the service out to tender, but it had been claimed that the service would be reinstated.

However, there is still no service in place and town councillors said they are still being asked by residents what is happening.

Cllr Glenda Jenkins said: “Nothing seems to have been resolved. At the moment we’ve only got two services and this is causing difficulties for those living at the top of town.”

While town council clerk Jim Griffiths said a letter had been sent to the county council asking for answers on what is happening with the service, he said no response had been received so far.

A Powys council spokesperson said the authority understood that services during the day were due to be provided on a ‘ring and ride basis’ which would be operated commercially.

They said: “The council carried out a tender exercise for its public bus services across the county earlier this year. However, there was a technical error with the Machynlleth town service and unfortunately this was not put out to tender.

“To resolve this, we held discussions with the local bus company in the town, who advised the council that they would be prepared to operate the morning and afternoon ‘peak journeys’ service and offer the ‘off peak journeys’ on a ring and ride basis.

“Officers have tried on numerous occasions to contact the company on this matter [of off peak journeys] but have not been successful in establishing what the operator’s plans are regarding the off peak service.”

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