PARENTS and tots are celebrating the arrival of a new transport service from the Okehampton District Transport Group.
The group, which has been operating community transport for more than ten years and runs a successful Ring and Ride scheme, secured funding from Okehampton Town Council and the Devon Rural Transport Partnership to lease a six-seater vehicle to run a year-long pilot.
Mums and dads with small children will be able to use the service to travel into Okehampton town centre from the outlying villages.
Okehampton District Community Transport Group (ODCTG) Sonia Burgess said: 'It really can be isolating for parents with small children who do not have access to transport and we are delighted to be able to provide this new service.
'Our driver will pick people up from their own front door and drop them into Okehampton — the vehicle is also fully equipped with children's car seats.'
Town mayor Christine Marsh said she was sure this pilot scheme would be a success: 'The more people use it the easier it will be to secure funding after the first year,' she said.
'We are thrilled to support such an excellent initiative because it is so important that people have access to transport in a rural area.'
She added that mums and dads could come into Okehampton to do their shopping, visit their friends, go to the doctors or do a multitude of other tasks.
The service will operate in different parts of the district throughout the week and allows for approximately two hours in Okehampton. People need to book the service a day before they travel by calling the ODCTG office on 01837 55000. Information can also be obtained about the small charge made for the service and details of when it operates in your area.