A BUS company forced to cut its operator's licence by 150 vehicles has assured that services will not suffer as a result.
First West Yorkshire - which runs hundreds of routes in Huddersfield, Halifax, Leeds and Bradford - had its licence revoked on 150 buses by the Traffic Commissioner.
The decision takes effect from the end of this month and reduces the company's fleet from 1,125 to 975 vehicles.
It followed a maintenance investigation carried out in December, 2003, which led to 14 vehicles being immediately banned from the road. Over half of the 98 buses inspected were also found to have an "advisory" defect.
The ruling was later upheld at a Transport Tribunal.
Andrew Scholey, managing director of First Bus in Huddersfield and Calderdale, said the decision would not mean a cut in services.
And he stressed that passenger safety was not an issue in the decision.
"This is no reflection on safety standards," he said.
"We clearly don't put vehicles up for testing or run them on the roads if they don't meet safety standards."
Mr Scholey said the company had enough buses to meet its commitments despite the reduction in operator's licences.
The fleet was also being supplemented over the next few weeks by 96 new double and single deckers in Huddersfield and Halifax - a £13.5m investment in the business.
Mr Scholey said the company planned to appeal against the Traffic Commissioner's ruling.
He said: "We were very surprised by the level of the sanction because we have had no previous warning for maintenance standards.
"We were surprised that a warning was not given as a first stage."
Mr Scholey said the company had since increased its first-time MoT pass rate from 84% to 92% as a result of improving procedures.
He said the new figure was higher than the national average for large bus operators.
