Residents on a Dudley estate are celebrating getting their own bus service after a decade of campaigning.

Hundreds of people living on Foxyards signed a petition calling for their own bus link and finally their wish has come true.

Now they can pop on the 224 after the service was launched by Centro and Choice Travel following increasing pressure from councillors. Centro is subsidising the bus service until the end of October at a cost of £51,000 and it will run every hour between 8am and 5:45pm.

The service will operate between Bilston, Dudley and Cradley Heath calling at Foxyards where passengers will be able to catch it by hailing it down.

Dudley North MP Ian Austin, joined forces with ward councillors to put pressure on bosses to expand the 224 route so that it would go via the estate.

He met the chief executive of Centro, Geoff Inskip, and told him that elderly residents in particular needed to catch a bus close to their homes.

He added: “I spend a lot of time in the area, knocking on doors, speaking to residents and listening to what they have to say.  The number one issue on this estate was the lack of bus service for local residents.

“I want to thank all of the residents on the Foxyards who backed my calls by signing the petition. It was important that when I sat down with Geoff I had a petition signed by so many local residents.

“It really illustrated the strength of feeling that exists in the area on this issue.”

Mr Inskip said: “We listened carefully to what local people told us. We’re pleased to be able to subsidise this new route in order to meet their transport needs.

“We really do encourage people to use the bus as we will be monitoring passenger figures closely over the coming months to make sure it provides value for money for the taxpayer.”

Centro chairman Councillor Gary Clarke, said: “We hope this new service will be a big help for people in Foxyards who have campaigned so hard for it.

“No private bus company answered their calls so Centro has stepped in, but it’s now important that people make full use of the service to show it is needed.”