The future of Winchester's night bus has been officially secured.

The night bus came under scrutiny at Winchester Town Forum as councillors decided whether the service will continue.

The current two-year contract expires in September and councillors considered bids from three different companies including Stagecoach who run the service at the moment.

The night bus which has been supported by the forum since 2012, travels between the city centre, Badger Farm, Stanmore, Weeke and Harestock on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

In March, Winchester Town Forum chose to support the night bus.

At the meeting on Monday, councillors opted for Stagecoach to continue, as their bid of £13,800 was the lowest and within the forum’s budget.

However, not all councillors were happy and city councillor Ian Tait said: “All we are doing is supporting a minority of communities with a bus service I won’t support this because we have not got an overall policy to be inclusive in our transport. It is not part of an overall plan, by supporting this we are treating some communities in a prejudicial way.”

Cllr Kelsey Learney spoke of her support for the service and said: “I do think we should carry on with this and it is a useful service overall.”

Cllr Eileen Berry also spoke of her support and said: “I think we are going for the minority, providing the minority is going to use it I am going to support it.”