BUS-users in the Keighley district are trialling the latest in ticketing technology.

A group of volunteers is acting as guinea-pigs as the West Yorkshire Combined Authority pilots a system which turns a mobile phone into an Oyster card-style travel pass.

The cutting-edge system is being trialled on the 662 Shuttle service between Bradford Interchange and Keighley Bus Station, via Crossflatts, Bingley, and Saltaire, run by the Keighley and District Bus Company.

So far, around 100 people have signed up to take part in the pilot, and will get half-price fares for the duration of the trial as a thank-you.

Operators such as First and Arriva already offer their customers m-tickets, which are bought online and shown to a driver on a mobile phone screen.

But this system takes that technology further, using special Bluetooth tags fitted at bus stops along the route.

To use the system, a customer downloads an Android app to their phone, registers and pays a deposit. Before starting each journey, they touch a button marked ‘ride’ in the app and show the driver a pass which appears.