Workers travelling between Seacroft, Gipton and Leeds will soon be able to travel earlier in the morning, thanks to Metro.

From Monday 14 December service 5A will have two new journeys, leaving Seacroft at 4.52am and 5.52am, funded initially on a six-month 'use it or lose it' basis.

In July, First withdrew service 68 between Seacroft, Gipton and Leeds. While most of the route was replaced by an extension of service 5A, early morning journeys before 7am were not provided.

At today's meeting of the West Yorkshire's Integrated Transport Authority's Tendered Services Working Group, members heard that the withdrawal of the early morning journeys had caused difficulties for people getting to work. Some passengers from Gipton are having to walk several miles to work or to York Road to catch an early bus.

Metro's District Spokesperson for Leeds Cllr Colin Campbell said, "We received many comments about the lack of early morning journeys so I'm pleased to be able to say that Metro has been able to respond and meet passengers’ needs.

“The extra journeys have been funded initially for six months; it’s now up to passengers to ‘use it, or lose it’.”