MOREBUS has announced it will increase daytime bus services across Dorset from next week.

This follows the government's decision to begin easing the coronavirus lockdown, resulting in higher demand.

From Sunday, May 31, passengers all over the county will benefit from more frequent buses across many Morebus routes, some of which will be running every 10 minutes.

Morebus managing director, Andrew Wickham said: "We are responding to a rise in demand, by re-introducing a number of services, and increasing the frequency of those we have been running since lockdown began.

"We want to make sure all our drivers and customers are safe on-board our buses, so we have introduced even more stringent cleaning regimes - sanitising our vehicles throughout with anti-viral wipes. We have also taken measures to enable social distancing, by altering the layout of our seating."

Among the timetable changes is an increase in frequency for M1 and M2 services, which run between Bournemouth and Poole.

These routes will now run every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday (every five minutes combined), and every 15 minutes on Sunday (every seven to eight minutes combined).

Andrew added: "The number of passengers each vehicle can carry is reduced and We ask those on-board to wear face coverings if they can, and to avoid using cash - paying by contactless, smartcard or app instead if possible. We are making some changes at Poole Bus Station, to allow for social distancing. This means our customers may need to catch their bus from a different stand. Please check our new signs at the bus station for details."

For more detailed timetable information, visit: morebus.co.uk