BOURNEMOUTH-BASED bus company Yellow Buses will be extending some of its routes next month.

It will benefit residents in Bearwood as route 6 will be extended to Wimborne via Magna Road and Merley. The service will run every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday from around 7am until 7pm. The extended route will also provide new links to Bournemouth University and a quicker way into Bournemouth from Wimborne.

Merley and Bearwood councillor David Brown said it was "great news".

"Brings back memories of the popular 4d service which we sadly lost a few years ago," he said in a post on Facebook.

"And it is some reward for the council's recent £1 million improvements to Magna Road including the new bus stops."

Route 1a will be extended from Sainsburys at Somerford to Highcliffe and New Milton. Buses will operate every hour along Lymington Road, providing a new direct link for Highcliffe residents to Sainsburys and Stewarts Garden Centre.

In New Milton the route will provide a regular link to the Tesco store throughout the day, Monday to Saturday.

And ahead of the summer season, Yellow Buses will re-launch its route 7 as the Buster's Beach Bus, which will run hourly from Sandbanks to Boscombe via Branksome Chine, Alum Chine, Westbourne, East Cliff, and Boscombe Pier. From

The extended 1a, 6 and 7 routes will be launched on Sunday, April 7.

From May 25, the service will run every 30 minutes until September, when it will return to an hourly service again.