Transport firms have welcomed the announcement of a Government bailout package to ensure services continue to operate during the coronavirus pandemic.

Stagecoach said the decision will "enable key workers to continue to travel" while FirstGroup confirmed it has received "the necessary support to continue running bus services".

Demand for buses has fallen by about 90% due to the virus.

The Department for Transport announced on Friday that bus companies in England will receive £167 million in new Government funding to help them cope with the loss of revenue, while support for the sector in Scotland and Wales has previously been announced by the devolved governments.

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Operators will be required to maintain up to 50% of normal service levels and allow adequate social distancing space between passengers under the conditions of the new funding.

The package, which has been agreed with bus operators, will be paid over a 12-week period under the new Covid-19 Bus Services Support Grant.

Perth-based Stagecoach chief executive Martin Griffiths said: "We would like to thank the respective governments and our local authority partners for their support through this very challenging period.

"It is welcome recognition of the importance of maintaining bus services at this time and it will enable key workers to continue to travel to and from work, as well as ensuring communities can still access food, medical care and other essential services."

Aberdeen-based FirstGroup chief executive Matthew Gregory said: "I am pleased that by working with the DfT, devolved government and local authorities, we are demonstrating that we are able to secure the necessary support to continue running bus services, recognising the unique and essential role they play in sustaining our local economies and communities.

"These arrangements will enable us to continue working closely with councils and our other local stakeholders to ensure that key workers can reach their destination, be it hospitals, supermarkets or distribution centres."

Anthony Smith, chief executive of passenger watchdog Transport Focus, said: "Around half of bus passengers tell us that the bus is the only real means of transport available to them, so it is right that the Government has recognised the exceptional circumstances posed by coronavirus."

Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, said: "Sadly after 10 years of Tory cuts, our buses were already running just skeleton services to far too many of our communities.

"It's good that the Transport Secretary has at last realised the strategic importance of buses to keep key workers moving. What we now need is for the Government to be bold and take the logical step to bring our buses into public ownership where they belong.

"A publicly-owned, truly integrated public transport can transform the way we travel and help tackle climate change for a cleaner future for all of us."

Britain's high street retailers suffered their worst month on record in March as they were hammered by the Covid-19 lockdown, according to new figures.

The latest monthly BDO high street sales tracker saw total like-for-like sales dive 17.9% for the month as shoppers stayed indoors.

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In-store sales were particularly badly hit, plunging 34.1% after non-essential stores were told to shut their doors in the face of the pandemic.

Reduced footfall due to social distancing protocols also hit stores during the month, while shoppers' attentions were diverted to essential items such as groceries.

Fashion stores saw sales dive 40.4% over the month, while lifestyle shops reported a 24.6% decline.

Elsewhere, homeware store sales declined by 26.1% after customers vanished at the end of the month.

Shoppers turned their attentions online, with non-store like-for-like sales increasing by 13.7%.

Ryanair expects to carry "minimal if any" traffic this April and May as the coronavirus pandemic forces its fleet to stay largely grounded.

Both depressed demand and government restrictions have forced Ryanair to stop flying, slashing the number of passengers it carries.

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The company said that the number of passengers it carried in March was 48% lower than the same month last year.

It is currently flying less than 20 daily flights, compared to its usual 2,500.

It operated 33,000 scheduled flights in March, carrying 5.7 million passengers, though 64,000 flights had been budgeted.

The budget carrier revealed it would not be able to give guidance for the next financial year and warned that its profit was likely to be in the lower end of guidance for the 12 months that just ended.

It expects pre-exceptional profit after tax will fall between 950 million and one billion euros (£830 million to £875 million) in the 2020 financial year, which ran until March 31.

"This is due to the response of EU governments to the spread of the Covid-19 virus, which have since mid-March included widespread flight bans and travel restrictions which have closed Europe's skies to all but a tiny number of rescue and medical flights," the company told shareholders today.

In the last 12 months, about 149 million passengers took a Ryanair flight, a 4% rise on the year before, even though the company was on track to carry 154 million as late as the beginning of March. This was before the worst of the pandemic hit Europe.

The airline said: "Due to widespread EU government flight bans and restrictions, Ryanair expects to carry minimal if any traffic during the months of April and May.

"Ryanair Group Airlines continue to work with EU governments to maintain minimum flight links for emergency reasons and to operate rescue and medical flights when requested to do so."

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