Council chiefs say the last remaining Chesterfield residents without the new discount travel cards will finally receive their new passes any day now — almost a month after they came into force.
Chesterfield Borough Council says almost all of its 22,000 eligible residents should have now got the new national bus pass, after distribution problems meant some people experienced delays.
Since the end of March, people with Derbyshire Gold Card
s have been receiving new 'smartcard' replacements as part of a new national travel card scheme which came into force on April 1.
The national suppliers of the cards — taken on by the Government's Department for Transport — experienced problems which meant some people across Derbyshire and the whole of the UK suffered delays in receiving their new cards.
But now the last few of the 6,000 or so borough cards that were still outstanding on April 1 are being delivered by Royal Mail.
Cllr Mark Higginbottom, the council's deputy leader, said: "The vast majority of eligible borough residents will have got their new card by now.
"Anyone with an existing Gold Card who is entitled to a new one, but has not yet received it, should get in touch with the council immediately.
"Those still without a new card can use their existing Gold Card until the end of May on bus journeys within Derbyshire and on certain routes across the county boundary, but an additional temporary pass may be required for those people wishing to travel outside Derbyshire. The council can provide this, on request."
Anyone who has not received their new card by today should contact the council.
For more information, call the council's hotline on (01246) 217340.
The full article contains 291 words and appears in Derbyshire Times newspaper.
