Rush to replace dropped bus services

A Herefordshire bus operator has dropped its services in the county “with immediate effect” this week, leading to emergency meetings with other operators to step in and maintain services.

“We were notified by Lugg Valley Travel yesterday [Tuesday January 21] that they no longer intend to operate on their routes in the county with immediate effect,” a council spokesperson said.

These include five school routes and 11 public routes, predominantly in the north of the county.

“Our transport team are working tirelessly to ensure all of these routes are covered by other operators so there is no gap in service,” the spokesperson said, adding this is has involved “emergency meetings” with operators.

A spokesperson for Lugg Valley Travel said: “All routes are continuing to operate as normal with the assistance of local operators and Herefordshire Council.

“Lugg Valley Travel Ltd remain open and trading.”

The company has 29 employees according to its most recent accounts. It shares a Hereford address with Yeomans Travel, another bus service operator in the county.

Neither the council nor the company responded to the question of whether the move was as a result of a poor inspection by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, as has been alleged in a local online forum.

The DVSA was also asked if this was the case.

Phil Tranter is deputy principal of Hereford Sixth Form College, over half of whose students travel into the city on public transport each day.

“We were only told yesterday afternoon that there were operational issues and so there would be a change of operator,” he said.

“But the services are as before and students are still getting in, so there has been no impact.”