IT has arrived at last.

Tenbury Transport Trust staged a party to mark the arrival of its long-awaited bus from the government.

It has been decked out in new livery and was greeted with a celebration at The Burgage before going into service.

The Mercedes mini-bus, which has been especially adapted to meet the needs of the trust, was first mooted more than two years ago but there have been numerous delays.

However, the bus has now arrived and will provide an important addition to the fleet.

It is hoped that it will enable new services to be provided, including a bus link between Tenbury and Ludlow.

This completely changes the outlook for the trust because one of the two buses that it has been operating up until now is coming to the end of its useful life and is becoming increasingly unreliable.

The trust is also expecting, in the near future, to receive at least part of a grant of nearly £100,000 due from Tesco as part of the planning agreement that allowed them to build the new store which is almost complete on the former Cattle Market site.

However, it is not known if the delay in the opening of the store from the end of February until late April will result in holding up the arrival of the money.

It is a very different situation for the trust to the one facing its chairman John Driver and his team 12 months ago.

At that time, there was no sign of the mini-bus and with no prospect of Tesco starting work the outlook was bleak. The trust was looking at having to take some serious decisions which would, at least, have led to a reduction of services.

There were a number of fundraising activities and included in this was John Driver collecting sponsors in order to avoid him having to make a sky-dive.

But now the prospects are looking much better.

John Driver has, in particular, praised Tenbury MP Harriett Baldwin who helped apply pressure to the government in order to ensure that the bus was eventually delivered.

She has also pressed Tesco to convert its promise to build a new store in Tenbury into reality.

Both bus services and a car service are operated by the Tenbury Transport Trust in order to fill the gap because of the loss over the past five years of local authority-supported routes.

Under its operating licence, the buses run by the trust are now allowed to pick up from traditional bus stops but people wanting to use them have to book in advance.

The buses are driven by a team of volunteer drivers and, because they are mini-buses, a Public Service Driving Licence is not needed although instruction and an assessment is carried out by Worcestershire County Council.

A significant barrier to the expansion of services is a shortage of volunteer car and bus drivers. Anyone interested is asked to contact the trust in Teme Street.