TAVISTOCK's new hoppa bus ran into a bureaucratic wall this week, just days before the first trial weekend of the service.

The Hoppa, the brainchild of Tavistock Forward, is a minibus running a continual figure of eight service between Safeway to the south of the town and Somerfield in the north and charging a flat rate 20p fare.

John Taylor, vice-chairman of Tavistock Forward, said: 'I had a call on Monday afternoon from the Department of Transport in Bristol saying that somebody had lodged a formal complaint about the proposed route.

'Unless we actually submit an appropriate form for a permanent bus route, we can't run the bus.'

Mr Taylor said the department require a permit even though this weekend's bus service is being run on a trial basis — the only way around the situation is not to charge a fare.

'I am going to try and get this permit in time although it costs £38 — by hook or by crook the bus will run, even if it's a free service,' said Mr Taylor.

He said the permit normally takes 42 days to be registered by the authority, although with backing by Devon County Council the form might be passed quickly.

Mr Taylor said Tavistock Forward has distributed hundreds of brochures about the Hoppa bus and he was very pleased with the reaction to the idea.

'Everyone at Dickensian evening was very supportive — in fact I was so worried it was going to be too busy I made arrangements with Holmans for a second bus,' he said.

Geoff Turner, executive officer at the Department of Transport's Western Traffic Area, said: 'Anybody who carries passengers around for payment has to have some sort of licence — we have to make sure people are running a service that is safe and everything has been applied for.

'There is no problem provided people apply for these things — it came to our attention because someone complained about it.'

Mr Turner could not disclose the name of the complainant.

He confirmed no licence was necessary if the service was free.

The Holmans minibus will be running between 10am and 4pm tomorrow (Friday) and on Saturday, stopping wherever people flag it down.

Tavistock Forward hopes the service will encourage people to leave the car at home or outside Tavistock, reduce parking problems in the town centre and boost business.

If the idea is a success, the group hope the service will become a permanent fixture in the town.