A PASSIONATE member of a South Lakeland transport group is urging new members to get on board.

Barbara Colley, secretary of the Kendal and District Bus Users group (KADBUS), said that for the group to continue to exist it needed key positions to be filled.

"It doesn't involve more than two meetings a year," she said. "It's an effective group because they speak for the bus users otherwise they have no voice.

"We need a new chair, new secretary and a treasurer as soon as possible."

Mrs Colley explained that KADBUS, founded in 2006, had achieved many things such as persuading Cumbria County Council to invest £40,000 in refurbishing the Blackhall Road terminus and

"But you can only do these things within an official group," the 88-year-old said.

The group's current project revolves around improving the bus shelter provision on Kendal's Blackhall Road, for which it has secured some £18,000 worth of funding.

The bulk of the money has come from central government but the user group applied for it through Cumbria County Council, which is helping to assess the best course of action for the shelters.

Ideally, Mrs Colley said, it will involve there being a longer shelter to offer more protection for the large number of bus users who wait on that side of the road.

"By existing as a group we can make a case for any need relating to a service, passenger provision or even to do with the whole structure of a service," Mrs Colley said.

"And secondly you're in a position to apply for funds. We wouldn't have been able to do as individuals.

"It's important to stress that it isn't a big commitment for any individual to join but by working together much more than the value of the input can be achieved."