THE Park & Ride service into York will be extended this summer for a ten-week trial period.

City of York Council and First York have agreed that Service 3 buses from the Askham Bar site will operate until 10.20pm to give visitors more time in York and make it possible for those attending Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre time to catch the last bus back to the Park & Ride site after evening performances.

The last Service 3 Park & Ride bus from Tower Street currently departs at 8.05pm from Monday to Saturday and at 6.05pm on Sundays. For the duration of the trial, there will be additional departures every half hour up to 10.20pm. The buses will also stop at Rougier Street and at the Railway Station in the city centre.

Councillor Peter Dew, City of York Council’s Executive Member for Transport and Planning, said: "As part of our commitment to developing and enhancing bus services across the city, we wanted to ensure that those keen to enjoy the city’s many and varied evening attractions, including Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, will be able to make use of our low cost and user-friendly Park & Ride service. Research suggests that existing Park & Ride service users would like to see the operating times extended into the evenings, and the busy summer months present us with a timely opportunity to trial this."

Marc Bichtemann, managing director of First York, said: "We’ve had a fantastic response from customers to previous late-night Park & Ride services that we’ve operated and we therefore expect our summer services to be just as popular. Alongside today’s announcement we are also continuing to work with City of York Council on the next phase of investment for the Park and Ride, which includes the introduction of more electric vehicles and improvements to the car parks."

For more information go to itravelyork.info