STAGECOACH operations director

Gordon Frost has clarified the service to be provided by the new number-9 bus.

A new route, introduced to serve the eastern end of town and replace the 65 and 38 will offer four round trips from 10am-noon and serve the Wootey and Manor estates.

However, describing it as “half a service”, Mr Frost said that he had been under the impression the route was to have run for four hours, to give residents longer to shop and attend appointments in town. Declaring himself mystified, he went away to investigate.

In the meantime, Alton Town Council is collaborating with East Hampshire District Council’s Robert Saunders as it looks into providing a community bus service that will also run on Saturdays.