A NEW bus is unable to stop in one village it passes through because it is on the wrong side of a council boundary.

The new WESTlocal 99 Chew Valley Cat bus launched in early September, running a figure-of-eight route through parts of North East Somerset that had recently been cut off from public transport. The "revolutionary" service has reconnected villages like West Harptree, Chew Magna, and Chew Stoke, but not Chewton Mendip.

At a West of England Combined Authority meeting, Metro Mayor Dan Norris was asked why the bus couldn’t stop in Chewton Mendip, despite passing through. He said it would be "difficult" as the village is outside the West of England area. The bus is part of the authority’s WESTlocal scheme for community-run routes.

People in the valley are glad to have the new bus service. Last year, the area lost all its regular public transport when bus services were cut across rural North East Somerset. In April, the WESTlocal X91 Chew Valley Sprint was introduced, providing a once-a-day route connecting several villages to Bristol.

Now the bus has been expanded to cover more villages and run three times a day in each direction, and the Chew Valley Cat has been launched to connect villages in the Chew Valley to Paulton and more bus stops on the A37.

The buses have been called “revolutionary” by Jackie Head of the Chew Valley’s the local sustainable travel group, who said: “We have never had this kind of service in the Chew Valley before.”

But, at the committee meeting on September 20, she urged Mr Norris to allow the bus to stop in Chewton Mendip. She said: “The bus passes through Chewton Mendip. It has to because the roads in the middle of the valley can’t cope with the bus. Please let us stop there. Please let us pick people up there.”

Mr Norris said: “This whole thing is new and innovative but part of that is about learning. I think it is getting the positive outcomes we hoped for but there is still a lot to do.”

Mr Norris has served as both West of England Metro Mayor and MP for North East Somerset and Hanham since the 2024 election. He planned to hold both roles until the next Metro Mayor election in May 2025, but new Labour rules on MPs having second jobs may prevent him from seeking re-election.