Within days of one bus service being pulled in Falmouth, another had been modified to come to the rescue of passengers left high and dry, particularly around the seafront.

Fal River Buses cancelled its 329 service after just four months on Friday after it proved too costly, but OTS, which already operates the Falmouth Shuttle Bus, stepped into the breach on Monday to take over the route with “some minor modifications.”

Ben Moore, OTS transport manager, said: “We are absolutely delighted to take over this route as a natural extension to our existing very popular Town Shuttle service which we have operated and developed since start-up in 2008.

“The beach route will be incorporated into the existing shuttle timetable with ‘clock face departures’ from the Quarry car park, via the library and Prince of Wales Pier, at 10.00, 12.00, 14.00 and 16.00. These new services will incorporate the ‘best of both routes.’ “However, in order for us to incorporate this longer route into our existing intensive shuttle timetable, and hopefully only in the short term until we can take a longer term view of how best to run these services to the maximum benefit of our customers, we will have no time to run the 10.20, 12.20, 14.20 and 16.20 shuttle services. However, all others will remain as before.”

The revised shuttle timetable is only an interim measure until a new service provider can hopefully be identified. Councillor Candy Atherton said: “We want an all year round, reliable service that serves the people of Falmouth for years to come.”