Buses will be operating in and out of the town on Sundays this autumn and winter, thanks to one man commissioning the service.

A new timetable will see the X53 travel between Bridport and Weymouth three times a day on Sundays, something that wasn’t provided by bus operator First Wessex last year.

Resident Alan Williams, also a member of the Western Area Transport Action Group (WATAG) approached First Wessex to see if they would run the timetable if he commissioned it.

He said: “Normally they finish in mid-September and they don’t start again until a week or so before Easter, that’s what they did last year and what they were planning to do again this year.

“I know there are still holiday makers around until the half term holiday before November and certainly there are people who want to get in and out of Bridport at the weekends.

“Rather than run a full service through the winter, they should do a reduced service with maybe one or two buses, rather than six buses they do during the week. They have never been prepared to do that on their own, which is the reason why I approached them about using one bus leading up to Christmas to see how that runs. We may be able to convince them it is a good idea.”

The time timetable is currently scheduled to start on September 22 and run until December 22. It Will leave Weymouth King’s Statue at 8.55am, 11.55am and 2.55pm, travelling along the coast road through Portesham, Abbotsbury, Burton Bradstock and West Bay to Bridport, where it will depart from the coach station at 10.25am, 1.25pm and 4.25pm.

Mr Williams added: “The no 10 bus [between Weymouth and Dorchester] runs every half an hour so you can go on to Dorchester hospital from Weymouth. If you go on the first bus and come back on the last, it gives you four hours.

“We assume people would want to travel in the middle of the day, not early or late, and with only one bus you can’t run it more than every three hours, which is how we are doing it.”

Mr Williams said that the surrounding towns and parishes may be contacted to see if they want to contribute to allow the service to run after December.