Nottingham City Council is introducing more Shoplink Buses to make shopping easier for residents in Nottingham.

The Shoplink service is a partnership between Nottingham City Council and Premiere Travel and is part of the Link family of bus services that provide vital links for small estates to shops, health centre, leisure facilities and community centres.

Premiere Travel already operate a number of shopper services in the Nottingham area and the City Council have arranged for a network of further services to be operated within its area.

The new low floor buses buses will be branded as Shoplink and will provide a once or twice weekly bus route linking residential communities to affordable grocery shopping at a number of supermarkets around Nottingham.

Most services will allow users a stay of around 1 hour 20 minutes at a supermarket, giving enough time for shopping and a coffee or light lunch in the cafe.

Cllr Jane Urquhart, Portfolio Holder for Transport and Area Working at Nottingham City Council, said: “As a Council we strive to provide easy and accessible transport links for the benefit of our residents. This great new service will provide a safe and sustainable link to shopping facilities across the city so residents can carry out their shopping with ease.”

Concessionary travel permits can be used to travel on all the services. Other users will pay standard fares, with Premiere Travel making its own 10-trip ticket available for use on the service.

The City Council’s Link bus programme of subsidised bus routes now carries around 4 million passengers per year, with Nottingham now having one of the highest levels of accessibility in the Country.

There are 18 different Shoplink routes covering many parts of the conurbation, and will be advertised in one booklet available at many outlets across the City, including libraries, bus stations, Nottingham City Transport and Broadmarsh travel centres. Full details can be found at www.triptimes.co.uk

The new routes will officially start on Monday June 16 2008.

All media are invited to the launch of the new Shoplink service on Thursday June 12 at Morrisons on Leen Drive in Bulwell near the Springfield Retail Park. The bus will arrive at 10.15am with Cllr Jane Urquhart officially launching the new service at 10.30am along with residents who will use the service.