COUNCIL bosses have welcomed an extension of a bus route that will serve Kidderminster’s £10.5million leisure centre.

Diamond Buses Route 1 will cater for the centre on Silverwoods from Monday, September 3, as part of a raft of service changes being implemented to improve punctuality and address commercial losses.

Council leader Marcus Hart has praised the decision by bus operator Diamond to extend their Route 1 Kidderminster circular service to serve Wyre Forest Leisure Centre.

The new extended half hour service will operate as a hail and ride with passengers able to flag a bus down immediately opposite the leisure centre.

Councillor Hart said: “I very much welcome this new service which I’m sure will prove to be a great hit with local residents and particularly visitors to the hugely popular leisure centre.

"I always promised that we would do all we could to try and get a bus service along Silverwoods Way especially for people wanting to use the leisure centre and I am now pleased that this is being done."

A spokesman for Diamond said: “Silverwoods is a key new destination for the Kidderminster area and we are very keen for this service extension to prove a successful addition to the Kidderminster bus network.”

Stuart Booton, Contracts Manager at Places for People which operates the leisure centre on behalf of Wyre Forest District Council has also welcomed the new service.

He added: “The addition of this new service is eagerly anticipated and will create further options for our customers to visit the leisure centre.”