THE Coleridge Bus, which offers travel to and from the villages around Kingsbridge, has had to return a £6,000 grant due to lack of driver interest.

The Coleridge Bus is a charity that has been in service in the area for over 30 years and is run completely by volunteers.

As a charity, they rely on funding for their day-to-day running and this comes from a variety of sources.

Last year they received a £6,000 grant from Devon County Council's Department of Transport Commu-nity Transport Fund for the training of new drivers.

Unfortunately however, they had to return the grant due to lack of interest.

A spokesman for the Coleridge Bus said: 'This was more than a little disappointing for all of us at The Coleridge Bus, as we are always looking for volunteer drivers to join our team.

'It also means that if this type of funding is seen to not be needed it is less likely to be awarded again.

'It is very rewarding to drive the bus and the passengers are all very grateful for the service we provide.

'However, to continue to provide this valuable service we require a continuous influx of drivers, and, as many of the current team are approaching retirement age this is becoming more urgent.'

The Coleridge Bus was set up to provide villages with a bus service that they never had and would never have, due to it not being financially viable.

'The volunteer drivers maintain the scheduled weekly service into Kingsbridge from outlying villages. All our drivers have been fully trained and The Coleridge Bus pays for everything, even the medical, which is required before training starts.

The training involves a week of lessons and the following tests. Once trained, a volunteer would only have between one, and four drives per month with The Coleridge Bus schedule.

At the present time there are funds available to train a driver, so if you would be interested in joining the team of volunteer drivers please contact Dee Bullied on 821635 or Steve Manchip on 531451.