Bus passengers in the North East of England have been given the chance to pay their fare by using their mobile phone.

Go North East, the biggest bus operator in the North East has launched a new service called "txt2go".

From this week, passengers will be able to receive a digital ticket direct to their mobile phone just minutes after ordering it by text. The phone screen displaying the ticket information is then shown to the driver as the passenger gets on the bus.

The cashless, paperless ticket can be ordered any time, anywhere by sending a text to 60060.

The new tickets are locked to the handset it was ordered from.

To use "txt2go", customers first set up an online account using Go North East’s secure website. Money is then added to the account using a debit or credit card and the cost of each txt2go ticket will then automatically be taken from the account.