Stagecoach has changed its fares and services for the first time in three years, introducing reductions, increases and even free dog travel.
The changes will kick in from April 25, for services across Stagecoach East Midlands, which covers Gainsborough, Grimsby, Hull, Lincoln, Mansfield, Scunthorpe, Skegness and Worksop.
Besides human travellers, Stagecoach has also announced that dogs can travel for free on any bus services, with well-behaved dogs travelling at the bus driver’s discretion, so long as they sit on the floor and not the seats.
Singles will start from £1 across the region, with customers paying no more than £4.50 a single journey, and there are now only four different price bands for singles and returns, based on your length of travel.
For example, currently an off-peak single from Lincoln to Sleaford costs £6.80, but that will be reduced to £4.50 from April 25, while a £7.70 single to Skegness from the same start point will also be cut to £4.50.
A new flexible set of DayRider tickets will be introduced, including Flexi 5 and Flexi 10 bundles that give customers 12 months to use their unlimited daily travel tickets and save up to 30% when compared to buying tickets individually.
As well as this, the company is introducing a wider range of tickets for people aged 19 and under, an age bracket that has risen by three years to offer more access to discounted tickets.
Better value has been pledged across the board, with East Midlands Connect Day Out tickets now costing £7.80, down from £9.30, family tickets for two adults and three children replaced by five person group tickets from £12, and new Day Out tickets for just £5.
Matthew Cranwell, Managing Director of Stagecoach East Midlands said: “Stagecoach is a business well known for innovation and we are introducing new ticket types to simplify our bus fares and ensure that bus travel is convenient, affordable and straight-forward whilst still offering great value for money.
“The introduction of a wider range of tickets for young people is focused on enabling them to better access more affordable transport, through a ticket range suited to different needs.
“Following the pandemic, with the focus on a more flexible lifestyle, our new Flexi tickets enable people to travel on a great value ticket at times that suit them.
“Improving the range of our tickets available for purchase both online and through our app means we are well placed to welcome customers on to our services and play a key role in rebuilding the economy and reconnecting our communities in a sustainable way.”
All changes to fares and services can be found on the Stagecoach website, with breakdowns for each area in the East Midlands region.
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Nominations are open for schools and education settings to be recognised in the 2022 Lincolnshire Education Excellence Awards.
The event is organised by Stonebow Media, publishers of The Lincolnite, to celebrate the best school and teachers in Greater Lincolnshire.
The headline sponsors making the awards possible are Lincoln College Group.
Twelve categories are now open for nominations. The deadline for nominations is June 3, with a judging lunch scheduled for June 7.
Nominations are open from parents, carers, friends, families or education settings themselves, so if you know someone who deserving of winning now is the time to vote!
The awards ceremony will be held at the Engine Shed on July 7.
It’s been a week since the controversial statue of Margaret Thatcher was installed in Grantham’s St Peter’s Hill.
The £300,000 bronze monument immediately caused a stir and debate from both supporters and opponents of the first female Prime Minister of the UK.
Within hours of its 7am installation last Sunday, it had already been egged by a man later revealed to be 59-year-old Jeremy Webster, a deputy director at the Attenborough Arts Centre at the University of Leicester.
Mr Webster’s mother-in-law recently described his actions as “childish”.
Quoted in the MailOnline she said: “Margaret Thatcher lasted a long time in power. She was a trailblazer as the first woman prime minister and she had such energy, even though I know she slept very little.
“I’m very surprised to hear about all of this [egg throwing]. I’m going to have to call my daughter. I wouldn’t have thought Jeremy would be the sort of person to do this. It seems very childish to me – he has a responsible job.”
There have been reports of other antisocial behaviour taking place including people urinating up the statue, but investigations into these are yet to be confirmed by officials.
Away from the statue itself, others took to social media to react to the new monument.
Twitterer @BolsoverBeast thought Mr Webster’s actions should be expanded as a way to… get more people involved?
I think it would be a good idea to put Thatcher’s statue on a low loader and tow it slowly around the country so that we all have a chance to throw something at it. pic.twitter.com/uftMqr0LgR
— Chloe Schlosberg (@ChloeSchlosberg) May 19, 2022
Some called back to the fate of other statues
@Irritatedllama called back to the fate of slave trader Edward Colston who was thrown into the Bristol Harby in June 2020.
It's absolutely disgraceful that people are throwing eggs at the Margaret Thatcher statue in Grantham! We need to deploy a taskforce to give it jolly good wash!#Granthampic.twitter.com/RKftKUls4u
It wasn’t long before a parody account of the statue was set up on Twitter – nor before “she” was interacting with other parody accounts.
It was awful. I could see almost all of Grantham
— That Statue of Thatcher (@thatcher_statue) May 18, 2022
A… positive view?
There were supporters of the statue, however, Darren Grimes from GBNews was one of the few popular posts calling on people not to “give in to threats of petty vandalism”. He later posted the statue should be in parliament – where it was previously rejected from.
I honestly think Margaret Thatcher would have found this first round of petty vandalism of her statue to be utterly hilarious.
The statue looks absolutely glorious.
Almost a decade on from her passing, she’s still winding them up!
Some, like @Jonnyhibberd were more measured in their response.
I don't see a problem with a Thatcher statue and I also don't see a problem with people throwing eggs at it. Thatcher is an important part of our history, and so is what a lot of people thought about her.
— Jonathan Hibberd 🇺🇦 (@Jonnyhibberd) May 18, 2022
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