PEOPLE power could see the reintroduction of buses on High Street, Wrexham.

The council’s environment and regeneration scrutiny committee will discuss the issue at its meeting tomorrow.

The move is supported by residents of the Caia and Whitegate areas and has the backing of a number of town centre traders and councillors.

The service stopped running in 2009 due to ongoing traffic problems along the route.

Bus operators feared fines from the Traffic Commissioner for being unable to meet published timetables because of ongoing parking problems.

A report by the council’s chief environment officer John Bradbury says that without some form of engineering works it is unlikely that any commercial bus operator would be willing to commit to redirecting existing services into High Street.

He therefore recommends that before any work is done the council talks to bus operators with a view to developing a partnership approach to the re-introduction of the service.

Whitegate councillor Marc Jones, who has consistently called for the service to return, said: “I have spoken to local traders at length, in particular those at the local markets, who tell me they’ve seen a big drop in trade since the service stopped.

“Many residents from Caia Park have also told me they want the service to return, so there would seem to be an obvious solution which would cater for both needs.”

He added: “The traffic issues in High Street have been a problem for some time.

“It is always difficult to find a balance to suit everyone but I think most people are agreed that the situation cannot remain as it is.

“I very much welcome the responsiveness of council officers in taking on board local concerns regarding this issue and hope the committee support their recommendations to seek a solution to this problem once and for all.”