MAKING the guided bus work will be the responsibility of Huntingdonshire District Council, the county has said. The surprising response followed a question from County Councillor David Jenkins at the full meeting of Cambridgeshire County Council last week

MAKING the guided bus work will be the responsibility of Huntingdonshire District Council, the county has said.

The surprising response followed a question from County Councillor David Jenkins at the full meeting of Cambridgeshire County Council last week.

Cllr John Reynolds, cabinet member for transport, advised that it was up to the district councils to enable the Cambridgeshire guided bus to operate reliably.

Cllr Jenkins had earlier congratulated the council on reaching agreement with bus operators to specific bus frequencies. But he added it would be impossible to run a reliable service because of traffic.

He said: "Patients will need to be able to make their appointments at Addenbrooke's, travellers will want to meet their trains at the station and Cambridge students will want to get to their colleges and schools on time.

"It is simply not possible to run this bus service reliably. It will always be vulnerable to traffic conditions in Cambridge. The county should not be passing responsibility for this on to the districts. The county must play a major role in providing the conditions for regular and reliable public transport, including the guided bus."

A spokesman for Huntingdonshire District Council said: "We have supported the guided bus and we also support the proposed Huntingdon to St Ives bus priority measures but we have no input or control over the running of services, so we don't have a specific role in how it operates.