FORGETTING their bus pass should be a thing of the past for students at a Hampshire college.

Students at Barton Peveril will be the first in the county to be offered a new pass which will be sent to their mobile phones.

The scheme is being run by Hampshire-based operator Xelabus in partnership with My Mobile Tickets.

Youngsters boarding the bus will show their mobile phone screen to the driver. The bus company says this will speed up boarding times and reduce cash handling.

Gareth Blair, operations director for Xelabus said: “The new system allows us to be confident that tickets are being purchased in a safe and secure manner and offers the business assurance that this will limit any potential abuse of bus passes.”

He said the firm planned plan to roll the system out across its network within 12 months.

Katie Luckwell, retail operations manager for Southampton-based Mobile Onboard, said she was pleased to be partnering Xelabus with their new mobile ticketing strategy.

“We work with operators throughout the UK so to have Xelabus, who are based just down the road from us, as a local partnered operator is a great opportunity. Xelabus really understand the benefits of offering mobile ticketing and we are looking forward to working with and supporting their mobile ticketing rollout.”