Habitual car users are being urged to take the bus in a new City of York advertising campaign to be launched on Monday (17 March).

Posters are to appear on buses throughout the city encouraging people to 'Live Life in the Bus Lane' as part of a dedicated campaign to highlight the benefits of bus travel in the city.

The focus of the campaign, which also includes radio advertising, is to highlight the many things which people can do whilst traveling by bus.

People have told the council's travel officers that they like to travel by bus because they spend the time reading the newspaper, texting or catching up on quality time with friends and family.

More unusual pursuits whist on the bus including juggling, homework and finishing off that novel.

City of York Council's transport officer Linda Capel, who is heading up the campaign, explained: " this is an important step in backing bus travel in the city. The idea is to open people's eyes about the many benefits of using the buses. The time they spend sitting in traffic could be spent much more productively on the bus. This is the first time the council has done this type of campaign and we hope that it will be a success."

The posters will appear on First York buses from Monday 17 March for four weeks and will appear again later in the year.