PEWSEY Vale's award-winning Wigglybus welcomed its 100,000th passenger last week as it recovers from serious problems which plagued it at the end of last year and the early months of this year.

The Wigglybus management group has announced that by the end of May 100,316 passengers had used the innovative demand-responsive service since it began nearly three years ago. The passenger total for May of 3,452 was 11 per cent higher than the figure for April.

John Brewin from the management group said: "We are obviously very pleased and are hoping that even more people use the service over the summer months. The Wigglybus will take you into your local town Pewsey or Devizes but can also be used as the first part of a longer journey by linking with other bus services there.

"We have also recently increased our evening service so that it now runs on four nights a week, which we hope will be especially popular with younger people."

The service ran into major problems with its software and call centre, originally based at Wiltshire Ambulance Headquarters in Chippenham. But the new software, after some teething problems, has overcome the glitches which saw passengers left standing at bus stops, and others stranded in the countryside.

The new call centre in Gloucester is also becoming more user-friendly after initial problems.

In December, the Pewsey Vale service will be introducing a fourth bus and already there has been wide consultation with people on the sorts of improvements they would like to see. Local people can also make their wishes known on the information line on (01380) 860100.

In addition to the information line and the booking line on (01249) 460600, there is now a new freephone number which gives passengers a quick way of reporting problems they encounter with the expanding service.

Management group member Ian White of Wiltshire County Council has urged anyone experiencing a problem with the service to report it immediately on 0800 915 9910 and give the date and time of booking. "With that information we can usually find out exactly what went wrong," he said.