A direct bus link from Killamarsh to Sheffield will start from the 13 May, but Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire areas will remain without.

From the next month Killamarsh residents will now be able to access Sheffield through the new 120 bus link that will now run through the village following a decision by Derbyshire County Council.

MP Lee Rowley has given an update regarding his ongoing campaign to restore and improve bus links in areas Killamarsh, Renishaw and other parts of his constituency with Chesterfield and Sheffield.

He said: “Today is a good day and I’m really, really pleased to see progress. There is still more to do on the Chesterfield link and, whilst we cannot guarantee anything at this stage, we’ll keep working on it.”

The campaign follows the decision by Stagecoach to drop their 80/80a bus service which ran between Sheffield and Chesterfield in September 2023.

The bus route was affected largely by Covid 19, after the pandemic. Stagecoach struggled to fund the buses as it had become unpopular, as passenger numbers dropped by more than 25%.

The service which stopped running at the end of October travelled through Staveley, Mastin Moor, Renishaw, Spinkhill and Killamarsh around every hour.

This decision was received badly. At the time , Mr Rowley said the move by stagecoach was ‘disappointing’ and ‘would cause problems for residents’.

Lee Rowley made a point that the extension of 120 through Killamarsh did not come easily, but with a huge amount of work over the past weeks.

In a post on Facebook he gave thanks to Conservative North East Derbyshire team and others.

He said: “I’m hugely grateful for Steve Clough and his Killamarsh team, County Councillors Mark Foster and Carolyn Renwick and Cllr Charlotte Cupit at the County Council.”

This follows his criticism towards the local labour councillors, who have spoken out about the bus route issues before.

He said complained about councillors who had launched a petition and claimed they had not been heard from since.

While Killamarsh will benefit from the new bus link, other areas such as Chesterfield remain without such links since the bus company’s decision.

Mr Rowley stressed that he would continue to talk with the council about the issue.

He said on Facebook: “The next step is getting a way forward on the Chesterfield and Royal Hospital link – which is the rest of the current 80 service that is set to end as a private operator provision in a few weeks time.”

He added: “There is still more to do on the Chesterfield link and, whilst we cannot guarantee anything at this stage, we’ll keep working on it.”

Other services have been introduced with the help of MrRowley, such as the Dial a Bus service which runs through some areas of North East Derbyshire, however, it is not certain whether this will be able to replace the prior 80/80a services.

The campaign will continue to go on , in the hopes to restore all lost bus routes in areas who suffered from the late 2023 bus cuts by stage coach.

The final Cabinet Member decision to confirm will be taken in the coming days.