Cumbria County Council has expanded its subsidised travel scheme to all rural areas for the first time.

From this week, the council’s Rural Wheels scheme is available across Barrow, Allerdale and Copeland, with transport available from 18 local operators approved to provide the service.

Rural Wheels is a demand-response travel scheme which allows people living in rural areas to book a ride in advance, get picked up from their home, and travel to their nearest town or the nearest public transport service for 30p per mile.

It is designed to help people without scheduled bus and trains services link up with conventional transport services nearby.

The scheme already operates in other areas of the county, including Eden, rural Carlisle and South Lakeland, but the expansion into the three new districts means the service is now available across rural Cumbria.

Users pay an initial £5 for a credit card-sized plastic smartcard with 500 points. Each 30 points, or 30p, buys one mile of travel, with the county council picking up the rest of the charge per mile.