‘We're firmly at the back of the queue’: Mayor fumes at Shropshire Council for ‘can-kicking’ delays to new bus service

Market Drayton's mayor wants guarantees that the bus service, which would connect Whitchurch and Market Drayton with Telford's Princess Royal Hospital and Wellington, will be implemented, after the Shropshire Star revealed that it had been delayed until at least January next year.

While Shropshire Council has confirmed it is currently seeking an operator for the route, the authority had stated in July that it was working with its Shropshire Bus Enhanced Partnership to "finalise plans" for the service, which it hoped would launch in late summer or early autumn.

However, officials have now confirmed that the service - funded through the council’s latest allocation of Government bus service improvement funding for the 2025/26 financial year - will not be up and running until early next year at the earliest.

Market Drayton mayor Tim Manton, who has previously described the introduction of the route as "vital” due to the town’s lack of a railway station, has strongly criticised the delay.