THE Lake District’s latest bus service is off to a flying start.

The launch of the Osprey Bus, a service built round visitors wanting to see Cumbria’s most famous aerial attractions, coincided with the arrival, just hours before, of the birds of prey, from their winter quarters 3,000 miles away in Africa.

More than 500,000 people have been to see the birds since they began nesting in the area in 2001, for the first time in 150 years.

The ospreys have become the Lake District’s most unexpected large-scale tourist attraction and have poured millions of pounds’ worth of revenue into the tourist economy.

The two ospreys, which bred three chicks above Bassenthwaite in 2007, have come back to the nesting site.

The Osprey Bus, with its special livery, links Keswick with a round Bassenthwaite Lake public transport route, taking in Whinlatter and the Dodd Wood viewpoint.

Hopes are high that large numbers of people will be encouraged to leave cars in Keswick, taking pressure off narrow country roads and rural communities such as Braithwaite, a traffic bottleneck.

Representatives from several Cumbrian organisations were guests on the first trip by the bus on Friday.

The project is backed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, through Bassenthwaite Reflections, a programme of 22 community landscape projects designed to protect the lake and landscape.

Reflections’ project officer Karin Crofts said: “It’s all about getting cars off roads, resulting in less hazards, less congestion and less pollution, which will protect and improve the quality of the lake and its surroundings.”

In addition to the scheduled stops, the bus, which has a cycle rack, will

operate on a hail and ride basis.

Among those on the first bus was John Collins, area manager for the Environment Agency.