Dorset buses are set to benefit from an investment from First Bus in a bid to speed up journey times.

Hundreds of buses in Weymouth and South Dorset now have contactless payment technology to let passengers pay for tickets with their cards without worrying about having the right change.

As well as all major card providers, the new ticket devices will also accept Apple Pay and Android Pay as part of the contactless roll-out.

Marc Reddy, managing director of First Hampshire, Dorset & Berkshire, said: “We’re very proud to launch contactless payment technology on First’s buses.

"This is another major step forward in enhancing the customer experience and builds on other innovations including mTickets, and the new journey planner app.”

"Importantly, this gives our passengers another option opposed to using cash.

"We’re keen for passengers to move away from the traditional payment methods and embrace the new technologies, like contactless and mTickets, so that it can speed up the boarding process, and ultimately the entire time of their journey."

Customers will be able to pay contactless for multiple tickets in a single transaction as long as the total amount is £30 or less.