A REGULAR bus user in west Cumbria has called for bus companies to compensate passengers when services are delayed.

Gerard Mckendry made the suggestion as part of a wide-ranging criticism of bus services in the area, particularly highlighting issues with the service between Frizington and Whitehaven, the number 30 bus.

In a letter to The Whitehaven News, Mr Mckendry said that he is a regular user of this particular service and claimed that he has once waited an hour and a half for a bus to turn up.

He also highlighted issues with the Stagecoach app and says that bus companies should have to compensate their passengers for delayed services, as other transport services do.

Mr Mckendry said: "I am writing to you about the shocking bus service provided by Stagecoach in West Cumbria.

"In particular the number 30 between Frizington and Whitehaven.

"I use this route often and have waited an hour and an hour and a half for a bus to turn up.

"The app is worse than useless. On Sunday I waited for the 2.55pm bus, which the app said was coming, but no bus turned up.

"Stagecoach will say they have limited drivers but they seem to have enough drivers for their Sellafield contract.

"Trains and airlines must compensate their passengers for delayed or canceled trains and flights, why can't that apply to bus companies?"

But Stagecoach said that services have been affected by recent roadworks.

A spokesperson for the company said: "Recent weekends have been challenging for us due to the closure of A595 and subsequent diversion.

"This has unfortunately resulted in all of our services operating with minor delays, however, we can confirm that the 2.55 service in question did operate, but unfortunately was around 10 minutes late.

"Concerning the wider comments about our services, in the last month we have operated over 98 per cent of the 327,000 miles we were scheduled to operate in West Cumbria.

"We are continuing to work hard on recruiting new staff members to join our team, and have a good number already in our recruitment and training pipeline."