Bob Lawrence is drawn to Nottingham by the prospect of travelling on the new trams.

AFTER less than three weeks, the trams now running into the middle of Nottingham are making a real difference.

Last Saturday I found that they were being well used by shoppers visiting the city centre - in fact they were packed for much of the route and it was a surprise more people seemed to be able to squeeze themselves into the trams at each successive stop.

One thing which was immediately noticeable was the large proportion of men using the trams compared with the few who use buses.

Only one route is operating at the moment, running from Nottingham Midland Station right out to Hucknall, and the park-and-ride sites at a good number of tram stops are a real attraction for motorists wanting to avoid the heavy parking charges which operate in the city centre.

The manager of one shop near the Lace Market said the trams were revitalising the city centre and bringing back people who had deserted Nottingham for the more convenient parking and shops in smaller towns such as Mansfield.

We travelled the length of the system and walked through the middle of Hucknall to the huge parish church of St Mary Magdalene, where the remains of the poet Lord Byron are buried.

Church officials asked us if we had come because of the trams; they had noticed a big increase in the number of visitors in the short time since the service had begun.

However, our visit to Nottingham coincided with strong gales and in the middle of the afternoon the power for the trams in Nottingham city centre was shut off for a time because the fire brigade was concerned about dangerous scaffolding.

During the shutdown, Nottingham City Transport laid on a shuttle bus service, but this was unable to cope with the sheer numbers of people who had queued to use the trams.

Later, after power was restored, we returned by tram to Nottingham Midland Station for the journey back to York only to find that the link footbridge was closed "for safety reasons".

Then we found that the trains had also been affected by the gales and were running well behind schedule.

The trams run every seven minutes on a Saturday on the busiest section of the route and journey time from Hucknall to Nottingham Midland Station is 32 minutes. The cost of a day ticket is £2, but if you pay an extra 20p your day ticket will cover you for use on buses as well as trams. Two more tram routes are planned to serve the south-west and south-east corners of the city.

Updated: 10:41 Saturday, March 27, 2004