South Yorkshire leaders call on Stagecoach to restore ‘lifeline’ evening service following ‘campaign of anti social behaviour’

Mayor Oliver Coppard said there is ‘no good reason’ buses cannot run through Thurnscoe ‘at any time’, after the service was withdrawn earlier this year.

He added: “Public transport is a public service, and this is just more evidence of the broken system we’re being asked to accept in South Yorkshire, where companies like Stagecoach have almost total control. They’re letting us down on a daily basis and causing misery to hundreds if not thousands of people.”

Sir Steve Houghton, leader of Barnsley Council, said the authority is working with Stagecoach to reinstate the service.

“Stagecoach has cut off a community based on inconsistent thresholds across their services, and it doesn’t seem right or fair.

"Of course, we want everyone to be safe, and we’re committed to working with our partners and Stagecoach to get the service reinstated.”

Stagecoach bosses say they withdrew the service after ‘the safety of our customers and colleagues has been unacceptably compromised’.

Matt Kitchin, managing director of Stagecoach Yorkshire said: “We have never faced such a prolonged campaign of anti social behaviour against our driversand customers as we have experienced in Thurnscoe.

“Buses have been repeatedly targeted over a sustained period of time and the safety of our customers and colleagues has been unacceptably compromised.

“Withdrawing bus services from communities is only ever done as a very last resort when the safety of our customers and colleagues is continually compromised and we will no longer put our drivers or customers at risk.

“A targeted bus leads to journey cancellations for customers along the whole route, trauma for the driver and customers caught up in it, and the bus not being available to serve the wider community as damage is repaired.

“We have invited partners to spend time with drivers at our depots to hear first hand the impact on drivers and customers and to share their plans to reduce ASB to a point where we are all confident that we will no longer experience a sustained campaign against buses.”