THE Weymouth Park and Ride will return for the summer, with services provided by First.

The service will be temporarily re-opening for the spring bank holiday this weekend, but this service will not be open to the public, contrary to information given to the Dorset Echo by briefholder Cllr Peter Finney over the weekend.

A spokesman for the county council apologised for the confusion.

Now, Dorset County Council has provided further details about the longer-term future of the troubled service.

It will run for the public at half term, from May 28 to June 10, with services from 9am to 7pm.

Buses will be provided this weekend and over half term by the county council.

Then, from June 11, First will be re-routing its number 2 service via Mercery Road to provide access to the Mount Pleasant park and ride site.

This service will run from 6am to 11pm seven days a week, every ten minutes on weekdays and every 20 minutes on weekends.

The service will not divert into the park and ride site itself, so a new stop with a shelter will be created on Mercery Road for inbound travel, with a new stop for the return journey as close to Harrier Roundabout as possible.

The park and ride site has also been hired privately for use by local events on weekends during May. 

Cllr Peter Finney, the county council’s Cabinet member for the environment, said: “We are pleased to confirm that, following successful conversations with First, a Weymouth park and ride service will reopen for the summer season.

“Before it reopens, we will be carrying out a deep clean and maintenance of the site to get it ready.

“There is currently no end date but we will monitor the service continually throughout the summer.”

Earlier this month the county council said it was “revising the operation” after the service failed to open for the start of the season on April 1.

Back in October 215, the council closed the 1,000 capacity Mount Pleasant site for the winter, as part of a move to save money and make the service break even. 

An investigation by the Dorset Echo from last years showed that the service was losing the equivalent of £450 per day and operating at a loss of thousands of pounds. 

The council’s own figures show the average number of vehicles per day at the site varied from 105 in April last year to 298 in August. In 2014 there were 120 in April and 286 in August. 

Weymouth Football Club is understood to be looking into the possibility of a new home for the Terras next to the park and ride site. This could include the possibility of a 5,000-capacity stadium between Weymouth Rugby Club and the park and ride’s overflow car park. However, the club has not confirmed this.

When questioned by the Echo earlier this month about the site’s future, a spokesman for Dorset County Council said work was taking place on a “revised operation that will incorporate the park and ride service into the current public transport system” in preparation for this summer. 

The spokesman added: “Full year operation of the park and ride was found to be inefficient as, during times of low demand, the park and ride did not meet the aims of traffic management by reducing the overall number of vehicles accessing the town. 

“We have been working with the commercial operator to develop a solution which reduces the overall cost for the council and improves the options for park and ride users. The council is committed to providing a site which removes traffic from local roads at peak periods and which provides value to the taxpayer.”