Cirencester College has announced a partnership with Stagecoach that will provide 10 new bus routes for students.

The new service will provide major improvements in transport to Cirencester and across Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire.

Students will be able to travel to and from college, as well as taking advantage of Stagecoach bus services outside of normal teaching hours when changes coming into place in September.

This will improve student access to work experience and employment opportunities.

The routes include links from Yate on Service 862, Gloucester City Centre on Service 866 and Kemble on Service 860.

Students can buy an exclusive academic year megarider pass from Stagecoach at the same price as a seat on the existing coach service.

This allows students unlimited use of the Stagecoach network across Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, South Gloucestershire and Bristol, within the academic year including evenings, weekends, term-time holidays, Easter and Christmas.

The routes are also open to the public.

From September, 600 students are expected to use the new network on a daily basis, reducing the carbon footprint of the student commute, and easing pressure on the road network in Cirencester.

Karen Fraser, vice principal of student experience at Cirencester College said “This is a win-win opportunity for our students, who will enjoy flexible travel to suit both their timetable and work placement needs.

"This will be at no extra costs and, as a bonus, they can use the ticket on weekends and holidays without paying more.

“In addition, our community wins by having better, sustainable transport links into Cirencester.

"This includes journeys from Kemble Station, which will help people to get to work more easily, as well as visit our fabulous town centre and hopefully boost the local economy.”

The service will run on a clear timetabled basis, with full journey planning and live bus tracking available online and via the Stagecoach Bus app.

Annemarie Thurgood, director of the Cirencester Chamber of Commerce, said: “To offer more transport from both smaller and larger towns in and around the county is fantastic.

"The fact that the new routes will have public access allows people to easily commute or visit Cirencester.

“The college annual pass gives students the independence to find weekend and evening jobs within our local community.

"On the flip side, this enables those that may struggle to find a job here to look further afield, but remain living in Cirencester.”

The service will also encourage students and workers from outside of the area to consider the town as a place to study or work in.

James O’Neill, commercial manager for Stagecoach West, said: “It’s a very exciting opportunity to get young people travelling with us by bus and supporting the public network, whilst getting great value from their ticket with evening and weekend travel at no extra cost.”

“Some students will get the benefit of an extra journey to the college later in the morning, as well as an earlier trip home at night.

"The subsidised college ticket is a great discount on the public bus price, but those who may not want to pay upfront will still be able to pay our driver on the day.”

“We’re really excited to create this sustainable, effective network in partnership with the college and look forward to welcoming students on board in September.

"Students travelling with us will be helping us develop and invest in our future bus network, ready for when they make their first journeys to work in the years to come.”