GREEN micro-hybrid vehicles are to join the fleet of buses carrying passengers between Portland and Weymouth.

The new buses, part of a £2.7million investment by First in Weymouth, are set to run on Service 1 from April and are among the world’s most fuel efficient buses. All its new buses will have leather seats and wi-fi.

The Wright Streetlite Max micro-hybrids will be introduced to coincide with First’s summer timetables on Sunday 6 April, which will see the frequency of the buses increasing to every seven to eight minutes, Mondays to Saturdays and every 10 minutes on Sundays. Another five will start operating on the route in September.

Simon Newport, general manager of First Dorset, said: “This is another step forward in the investment First is making to enhance and improve its services for the local communities and visitors to the Weymouth area in time for summer.

“These services are designed to make travelling in the Weymouth area as easy and convenient as possible for our customers.”

Six new Optare Solo buses will be running on Service 4 from Weymouth to Preston, where the evening service is being re-introduced and will operate every 30 minutes on Sundays.

They will also be seen on Service 8, where evening services are also running for the summer but will divert via Westham to replace Service 3. This service will also operate every half an hour on Sundays These new additions to the fleet follow on from the launch at the end of last year of six new Wright Streetlites on Service 2 between Weymouth and Littlemoor.

The investment in the new Weymouth buses is part of the £70million order for 425 buses that FirstGroup, First Dorset’s parent company, has placed for delivery in 2014/15.