A BUS company has come under fire for allegedly operating an unreliable service and cutting a route short.

Kirkburton Parish Council has organised a meeting for next Monday after receiving complaints about Stagecoach services.

The council says the 81 Huddersfield to Clayton West and the 232 and 233 Huddersfield to Emley have been delayed, cancelled or so full that would-be travellers at Highburton and Flockton have been unable to get on.

Councillors add that services have been bypassing Highburton.

Now parish councillors are encouraging residents to meet representatives of Stagecoach and passenger transport executive Metro to discuss concerns.

The meeting will be in the old Salvation Army Hall in Riley Lane, Kirkburton, starting at 7.30pm.

Council chairman Lin Holroyd said: “We are all sick and tired of the poor, unreliable service.

“Not a week goes by that buses fail to turn up, turn up late or, worst of all, turn up at Highburton completely full and sail straight past the bus stop, leaving a long queue of people still waiting to go into Huddersfield.

“We have had reports that this is a regular occurrence.

“The other thing which happens on a fairly regular basis, is that when the bus has passed through Kirkburton, it misses Highburton out.’’

Rupert Cox, a director of Stagecoach Yorkshire, said: “Our priority is providing passengers with a reliable, clean and affordable service.

“We are always keen to hear feedback from our customers and we would welcome the opportunity to talk through any issues they may have at the public meeting.”

Meanwhile, Stagecoach’s decision to stop the morning Huddersfield to Dewsbury X62 service at Mirfield has angered commuters.

Linda Cameron, 41, from Kirkheaton, and Carol Sloan, 44, of Waterloo travel to work in Ravensthorpe and Batley respectively on the X62.

They say Stagecoach’s decision to stop the morning service at Mirfield has doubled their journey time.

Now Mrs Cameron has to walk two miles from Mirfield to Ravensthorpe or catch a bus from Kirkheaton to Huddersfield and another to Ravensthorpe.

Mrs Sloan says she has to catch another bus from Mirfield to Batley.

Mrs Cameron said: “It’s a great inconvenience and the price hasn’t changed so it’s less service for the same cost. They didn’t even bother to tell us.”

Mrs Sloan said: “It’s disgusting. I can’t understand why they’ve done it. The drivers are lovely, but they’re fed up because they get a load of stick.”

Paul Lynch, a director of Stagecoach Yorkshire, said: “We have recently completed a major network review of all our services, which identified that the X62 service from Huddersfield via Mirfield and Dewsbury to Leeds was not covering its costs.

“Passenger numbers using this service to travel between Mirfield and Leeds in the morning were extremely low. There is also a bus due in Dewsbury at 8.40am.

“Earlier than this we operate every half-hour to Mirfield, from where there are up to seven buses an hour provided by Arriva and Longstaffs to Dewsbury.

“There are also two trains per hour from Mirfield to Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury and Leeds, and one an hour to Wakefield.’’