Stagecoach have responded to the recent bus cancellations in Stroud which continue today.  

In their response, they give several reasons as to why bus services are being cancelled in the area on a daily basis. 

Rachel Geliamassi, Managing Director at Stagecoach West, said: “We apologise to our customers in Stroud who have been affected by continued travel disruptions in the area. We are currently running 96% of our usual service levels in Gloucestershire but appreciate how frustrating cancellations are.

“We are experiencing a number of well documented challenges as we emerge from the pandemic and begin to see the effects of Brexit on the employment market. We currently have more drivers in our recruitment system than we have a shortage of.

"However, a mounting backlog in vocational licences being processed by the DVLA delays them being on the road, some are still waiting after applying for it as far back as August. Competition for drivers from the HGV industry is also impacting our recruitment.

“Whilst it is likely that these challenges will continue for a time, we are working hard to alleviate the pressures on our network and are prioritising school and commuter services. However, regrettably, we are still having to make some tough decisions over service cancellations due to short notice sickness, for which we can only apologise.

“Communicating changes to everyone across our network isn’t easy but we encourage our customers to use our app or Twitter to stay as up to date as possible.

“We would like to thank customers for their patience with our frontline teams whilst we work to resolve these problems and get new drivers on the road.”