A VITAL bus route used by Southampton pensioners has been saved from the axe - thanks to Daily Echo.

Pensioners in the east of the city today thanked the Echo after learning the Bitterne Shoppa Hoppa will be given a three-month lifeline after council bosses agreed to inject cash into the service.

The vital B1, B2 and B3 services operated by First was due to be scrapped on March 12 until the paper joined forces with concerned OAPs.

In the past week more than 400 readers had signed our petition pledging their support for the service.

The battle to save it was spearheaded by 76-year-old Eileen Marsh.

When told the campaign had been a success she said: "That's fantastic news. It will mean so much to the elderly residents who use it as we thought we would lose it. When I started my petition I knew I had to something to save it because so many of us rely on it.

"I couldn't have done it without the Echo's support."

The Bitterne Hoppa offers a hop-on, hop-off service, which circles three areas in Bitterne. It faced the axe because First Hampshire & Dorset Ltd said it was not commercially viable but it will now be funded by the council for three months.

First will operate a reduced service by scrapping the late afternoon buses that it used to provide. Thanks to the council funding, the Hoppa service will run from 9.43am to 1.40pm Monday to Friday - but it will be on a three-month 'use it or lose it' basis.

Councillor Jill Baston, Cabinet member for the environment and transport, said: "We understand that this service is invaluable to those who use it. However, in order to make the service sustainable we need to encourage more residents of Bitterne to use the Hoppa service.

Use or lose

"They may still lose it if we can't show there is sufficient demand to justify the funding."

Marc Reddy, managing director of First Hamp-shire & Dorset, is pleased the company was able to come to a solution in conjunction with the council. He said: "I am delighted that, with the financial support of Southampton City Council, we are able to continue to operate the Bitterne Shoppa Hoppa service.

"This is excellent news for the residents of Bitterne. It is now vital to see increased use of this service in order to secure it's continuation after the three- month period."