EXTRA buses for the Swanage and Purbeck area will be running later this month as part of a £420,000 investment.

Andrew Wickham, operations director at Wilts & Dorset, met residents in Swanage to celebrate the announcement.

A new package of timetables and route changes is designed to encourage more passengers to take to public transport.

As part of a £420,000 investment, from Sunday, May 25, Swanage and the Purbeck region will see a 75 per cent increase in buses provided by the new time table.

Services between Poole and Swanage via Wareham and Corfe Castle have been replaced by route 40, an improved hourly timetable seven days a week.

All buses will now follow the more populated route via Kingston and Langton Matravers. Harman's Cross is to be served by route 44 from Swanage and Worth Matravers with up to four buses a day.

The Bournemouth to Swanage route will be renumbered from 150 to 50 and frequency will be improved with up to half-hourly seven days a week in the main summer season.

The current service offers one bus per hour on weekdays and irregular Sunday service.

Mr Wickham said: "We are determined to provide a more frequent, reliable and a simpler service to the communities within the Purbeck region.

"The new services will make way for passenger growth and prove that public transport has an important role to play in the region and offer residents and holiday makers a reason to break from the hop-in-the-car habit."

Wilts & Dorset has followed suggestions from customers to separate the school bus services that at certain times of day were integrated within the Poole, Wareham, Corfe Castle and Swanage route.

Mr Wickham added: "We are confident that our enhancements to the services will encourage sustainable passenger growth."