Ref. 12479/1WILTSHIRE'S Wigglybus has been given a makeover thanks to ten-year-old Natasha Hall who has won a competition run by the Gazette and Herald in conjunction with Wiltshire County Council.

Natasha, a pupil at All Cannings Primary School near Devizes, designed a new environmentally friendly livery for the Wigglybus.

The bus has now been repainted and will be seen on journeys around Pewsey Vale and Calne from the end of March.

The idea behind the competition was to design a livery with an environmental message that would encourage more people to switch from using their cars to public transport.

Natasha's colourful design features a rural setting and the slogan "protect the environment for all of us, leave your car and take the bus!"

The competition in Gazette and Herald attracted hundreds of entries from schools across north Wiltshire and Kennet, the areas where the Wigglybus operates.

Judging was by a panel that included representatives of the county council, Hatts Coaches, Calne Area Transport and PVTAG (Wiltshire County Council's community partner for the Wigglybus), Kennet Passengers and Devizes mayor Paula Winchcombe.

Natasha, who lives in All Cannings, won a three-month family cinema pass for the Palace Cinema in Devizes and a trip to Legoland, near Windsor, for everyone in her class at school.

A presentation of prizes and launch of the repainted Wigglybus will be held at All Cannings School on Wednesday, March 24 at 11.15am.

Tim Reynolds, Wigglybus manager, said: "We were planning to repaint the Wigglybuses and thought we would try something different to encourage people to travel by bus.

"We are delighted with Natasha's design, which is very colourful and eye-catching. I'm sure it will make the Wigglybus stand out as it travels through the Pewsey Vale and Calne areas."

Bill Prendergast, Travelwise manager, said: "Many car journeys could be made by people switching to alternative means of transport, such as public transport, cycling or walking. The Wigglybus offers one alternative to the car for people living in rural areas."

He added: "We are very grateful for the help of the Gazette and Herald newspaper in running this competition."

The Wigglybus is a flexible, demand-responsive service which diverts from its main routes to pick up passengers in isolated rural locations. Passengers can book or hop on at a stop.

The service caters for people with no or limited public transport in their village, and provides an alternative to the car.

Buses provide easy access for wheelchairs users, parents with buggies and shoppers with trolleys.

The service recently secured £1 million in funding from the Government's Rural Bus Challenge fund.

The money will enable existing services in the Pewsey and Calne areas to continue to operate for the next three years. It will also pay for the implementation of a new Wigglybus service which is being developed to cover the Mere area.