Sunday bus services in the Cowal area are to be revised from this coming weekend (Sunday, October 23).

The present Sunday services to Toward (482/483) and Ardentinny (485) will be merged to form a new service (489) which will operate between Toward Lighthouse and Ardentinny.

During the day, five journeys will operate to and from Toward Lighthouse and four will operate to and from Ardentinny.

There will be no Sunday service between Toward Lighthouse and Castle Toward, as the number of people using this section of the route on Sundays is very low.

The revision is part of the package of measures agreed by the council in April this year and will save £21,300 a year.

In a separate development, from next Monday (October 24) the two school-time journeys on service 482 extending to Port Lamont will start and finish at Castle Toward. The existing council minibus service will pick up all secondary pupils north of Castle Toward and transfer them to the bus service at Castle Toward.

From the same date all journeys on service 485 which currently start and finish at Sligrachan will start and finish at the Glenfinart terminus, with the exception of the two school time journeys serving Dunoon Grammar School. These will continue to serve Sligrachan.

This revision was agreed by the Bute and Cowal area committee some time ago and was based on the low passenger numbers on the route beyond the Glenfinart terminus.

The changes to the 482 and 485 services will save the council a further £8,000 a year.

Councillor Duncan MacIntyre, Argyll and Bute’s spokesperson for transport and infrastructure, said: “We had some very difficult decisions to make in agreeing the budget last April, and revising bus services across the area was one of the options we agreed.

“The changes we have made are designed to have the smallest possible impact on the travelling public and make the best use of the funding available to us. I would encourage people to familiarise themselves with the changes before they come into effect.”

All the new timetables can be found on the council’s website at http://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/timetables?tid=3. Alternatively, travellers can contact Traveline on 0871 2002233, where lines are open 24 hours a day.