AN operator is being sought for a 'vital' bus service between Ilkley, Burley, Menston and Otley.

The current contract with Transdev to operate bus services 948, 962, 966 and Dash in the Otley, Ilkley, Guiseley and Yeadon areas will expire on February 19th.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority have invited tenders for the continued operation of the services which were returned late December. The bus services team is now currently evaluating the tenders and will be discussing proposals with operators.

In an email shared with local councillors last week the bus services team at WYCA said: "Due to current economic pressures and uncertainties around funding, interest from prospective operators has however been low and we may initially only be able to support a partial operation.

"We are continuing to hold conversations with operators about taking on these routes, and will keep ward members updated as to the position with this."

The service is currently run by the Transdev operated Keighley Bus Company. The Keighley Bus Company General Manager Alan Isherwood said: "No decisions have yet been made regarding any of the routes involved in this exercise. We continue in an open and supportive conversation with WYCA about the future shape of these routes beyond our current contract, and we will update our customers on any developments as soon as we can."

John Toseland, a regular user of the 962 Otley - Burley - Ilkley/Hebers Circular bus service, contacted the Ilkley Gazette on January 3 to raise problems with the current service.

He said: "Today, along with 7 other potential passengers, I waited for the 3:37 departure from Ilkley bus station. It didn't arrive, which is not uncommon. The service simply disappears from the electronic information board in the bus shelter.

"All the talk amongst the 8 passengers was the rumour that this service will be discontinued due to lack of passenger numbers."

He added: "If this service is indeed cancelled due to lack of use, this will be largely due to the unreliability of the service, which Transdev has engineered through lateness and consistent cancellations."

Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Keighley and Ilkley John Grogan, Anna Dixon, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Shipley (which includes Burley-in-Wharfedale and Menston) and Alex Sobel, MP for Leeds North West said in a joint statement: "The 962 is a vital link between Ilkley and the villages of Burley in Wharfedale and Menston and the town of Otley. On parts of the route it is the only bus which runs. Evening and Sunday services were cut some years ago but now the core daytime services are under threat. In a speech in February 2020 the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised that as regards buses we would have more services, including in the evenings and weekends’

"In Ilkley and the villages of Menston and Burley which have lost links to Harrogate, Leeds Bradford Airport and through services to Skipton in recent years, this promise sounds increasingly hollow.

"The sooner the Mayor of West Yorkshire is able to obtain greater powers to regulate bus routes and frequencies the better."