A NEW Moors rambler bus service has proved a great success.

Friends of Moorsbus introduced the service with the aim of helping more people to enjoy the Moors on foot by offering passengers guided walks.

Bill Breakell, from Friends of Moorsbus, which is run in conjunction with their main sponsor, the North Yorkshire Moors Association, said all walks were free of charge, but any donations were welcome.

“We aim to give our passengers an introduction to some simple but very enjoyable walks on and around the North York Moors, and people are already finding that getting to them by bus can actually make life a lot simpler than using a car.," he added.

"Most of our walks are be designed to be one way linear ones, so that you don’t have to walk round in a circle, or there and back, because you’re no longer tied to walking back to a car. And you can still all celebrate with a pint or two at the end, because nobody’s driving."

Two services are operating this year, and both run until the end of September.

The Moors Explorer is a commercial service bringing people from Hull, Beverley and Malton to the area, while the Moors Rambler is organised by the Friends of Moorsbus group of volunteers, and runs from Darlington to the Moors via Middlesbrough and Guisborough.

Both also make a couple of trips between Pickering, Kirkbymoorside, Hutton le Hole, Blakey, Castleton and Danby and the Moors Centre each day.

Fellow Friends of Moorbus member, Helen Gundry, said: “We have proved that it’s possible for Friends of Moorsbus to pick up the pieces after the North York Moors National Park Authority abandoned the 30 year old Moorsbus service last year.”

"We’ve aimed to look at new ways of making the service more viable, and we’re delighted that we seem to be succeeding.

Helen added: "We need all the support that we can get though, and would urge people to try one of our walks, use the buses to get to one of their own, or just to get to somewhere like the Ryedale Folk Museum, the Moors Centre at Danby, or a Sunday lunch at one of the many excellent pubs along the route between now and the end of September. Please try the bus and do the Moors – and yourself - a favour!”

Details of forthcoming walks can be found by phoning 01751 477216 or visit www.kms-environmentgroup.org.uk/friends-of-moorsbus/how-you-can-help/