VILLAGERS can now venture into Hereford for an evening out safe in the knowledge they can get a bus back.

The 453 service from Fownhope will now call at the Courtyard on Edgar Street and the city railway station after leaving the village at 6.44pm.

Every Friday and Saturday the same service leaves the Courtyard at 10.55pm, returning to Fownhope by 11.25pm.

David Clark, chairman of Fownhope Parish Council, said: “Not only does this new service benefit a cross-section of the community, it also provides an excellent demonstration of parish councils working together.

This service gives youngsters the freedom to socialise in Hereford without their parents needing to ferry them around.”

He said villagers can now also enjoy monthly buses to Ledbury after the parish council teamed up with its counterparts in Dormington and Mordiford to apply for funding.

That bus link runs on the fourth Friday of each month.