AN independent bus service has been awarded a Tesco Community Grant ensuring people can continue to get where they need to be.

Last Tuesday was awareness day for the X112 bus.

Cumbria County Council withdrew bus subsidies in October 2014 leaving many people in rural areas in danger of losing the transport they relied upon.

Friends of the X112 bus was then formed by a group of volunteers to raise funds for maintaining a bus route.

The group was presented with a £1,000 cheque by the supermarket giant at Tesco Extra in Barrow as part of their Community Grant award scheme.

The Trustees were very excited to receive the funds that will be used to support the bus as well as the coffee mornings and lunches they hold throughout the year.

This rural bus service covers Barrow along the Coast Road to Ulverston, Coniston and towards the Crake valley villages and back.

Friends of the X112 hold lots of events and are supported by pubs, cafes and restaurants along the route.

The group has also been enthusiastically supported by parish, district and county councillors and local MPs.

A spokesperson for Friends of the X112 said: “We have survived eight years. We are repeatedly told that the bus is a lifeline for those who live in isolated villages, often alone and no longer having access to cars and unable to afford taxi fares.

The X112 bus service is Free from 9.30am with a NOW card or only £2 for passengers with the government's £2 fare cap scheme which has been extended to June.