PARENTS with small children in isolated areas are set to benefit from a new seven-seater vehicle which will be presented to Okehampton and District Community Transport on Saturday.
Okehampton Town Council and the Devon Rural Transport Partnership have funded this new extension to the Ring and Ride service to the tune of £14,000.
For 11 years, the ring and ride bus service has provided transport for elderly and disabled people in the Okehampton area — but a new group of people will now be catered for.
Sonia Burgess, Development officer for rural transport in West Devon, said the new vehicle would be available to parents after half term in October, once drivers had gone through the appropriate training for fitting car seats.
She said a small vehicle would be adequate initially and it would be able to travel to those isolated areas where a bus could not .
'If we find at the end of the year of funding we are being inundated with people wanting to use the service, we will put in a funding bid for a larger vehicle,' she said.
Mrs Burgess has been working with rural transport co-ordinators in Okehampton and charity Homestart to get the project going.
After talking to families and playgroups in the area, it was felt there was a real need for a transport service for young mums who found it difficult getting to the shops, doctors' appointments and so on.
'In people are living in outlying villages without transport, it is a constant struggle to do all the things the rest of us take for granted,' she said.
'Parents may want to visit a friend, do a course or go shopping. We do not ask questions about why they are coming into Okehampton, it is up to them.'
If anyone wants to find out more about the new service they should contact Okehampton and district rural transport co-ordinator Sandra Hucker on 01837 55000.