THE town and the country joined forces this week for a bold new venture which will improve the lives of thousands of disadvantaged and vulnerable people in South Gloucestershire and beyond.

And in making the move the organisers have secured £750,000 to ensure the future of the scheme for at least the next three years.

The launch party at Marlwood School in Thornbury on Wednesday celebrated the formation of the Four Towns and Vale Link Community Transport scheme.

Until this week the Four Towns (Filton, Bradley Stoke, Patchway and Stoke Gifford) and the Vale Link (centred on Thornbury and surrounding villages) had operated their own community transport schemes and each had struggled to find the necessary funds to keep going.

By banding together not only is the future of each secured but the scheme is strengthened and can be depended upon to ferry children to school, the elderly on shopping trips and outings and the disabled to doctors and dentists.

Alderman Lew Gray, former chairman of the Four Towns scheme, said eight specially-adapted minibuses would now be available when needed by those who would otherwise have no way of getting to vital appointments or making journeys that the rest of society took for granted.

Alderman Eddie Gadsby, former chairman of the Vale Link scheme, described the new scheme as a great day for community transport in the area and said the newly-constituted scheme would meet the needs of many more people who needed specialist transport.

South Gloucestershire Council has committed £750,000 to the new scheme to provide school transport not provided by the commercial bus companies.

The scheme has the backing of the two MPs for the area, Doug Naysmith (Labour, N E Bristol) and Steve Webb (Lib Dem, North Avon), who described the scheme as the star in the fermament of transport.