MORE than 25,000 passenger journeys during the past year have been provided by a community transport scheme in Ryedale.

This represents a 16 per cent increase in the volunteer car scheme and a 27 per cent increase in the ring and ride scheme provided by Ryedale Community Transport (RCT) in Norton.

The annual meeting at Malton and Norton Rugby Club heard that a significant amount of time had been focused on ways of funding and sustaining other services, such as Wheels to Work.

There had been another rise in the numbers requesting the Rural Miles minibus brokerage scheme, which provides transport for voluntary organisations and community groups but the annual report stressed the need to recruit volunteer minibus drivers.

Rural Miles journeys reached a record high of 301 journeys – an increase of 88 per cent on 2013.

The Wheels to Work scheme enabled 27 people to benefit from the scheme which involves using mopeds provided to them by RCT so they can get to work.

Trevor Anderson, chairman of trustees, said it had been another demanding, but “very rewarding” year for RCTand the final accounts showed there was a small surplus and reserves remained at an adequate level to provide a stable base for a continuation of its operations for the short term.