Bus company, which ran school services, has licence revoked

M Travel Ltd, which operated route 183 between Wakefield and Pontefract, 134 between Pontefract and Castleford, numbers 487, 488 and 489 from Knottingley to Pontefract and back, services 30 and 39 between Pontefract, Upton and Hemsworth, number 49 between Pontefract and Low Ackworth, and several school services had its licence officially cancelled from Saturday.

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) documents state that Directors Darren Mayes and Margaret Brown, who ran the company and its fleet of 26 vehicles from Carwood Industrial Estate in Glass Houghton, have also each been disqualified from applying or holding an operator’s licence in Great Britain for a period of one year.

The decisions followed a public inquiry into the company in Leeds in March.

A statement published online by West Yorkshire Metro on Friday said all school services would be covered by other operators from today.

It added: “On local commercial bus services, a new operator Stanley Gath will take over the following services on a commercial basis: service 183 Wakefield to Pontefrat, service 134 – Pontefract to Castleford via Junction 32 (now operating until approximately 14:00 Monday – Friday, normal service on Saturdays), services 487/488/489 Knottingley - Pontefract via Chequerfield (some journeys withdrawn after 1400. The Saturday service to Broomhill Estate will be withdrawn).

“Full timetables will be available on this site when we receive them from the operator.”

It said services run under contract for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority would be replaced from today, operating the same routes and timetables.

CT Plus will run services 30, 39 and 49 and Arriva will run 134 services on an evening, under routes 410 and 411.

One passenger, who has used the 134 service to travel to and from work for several years, said she was “appalled” by the “lack of information” she received.

Lisa Taylor, from Pontefract, said: “There should have been some sort of notice or some form of communication out there for passengers to let people know what is happening.

“I sat and waited for two buses today wondering what on earth was going on when neither showed up. It’s outrageous.”