BUS operator First Huddersfield has been branded "pathetic" as it faces a rising number of complaints about unreliable services.

Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman said he was getting more and more letters from passengers about missing buses on routes around the town.

He said: "Sometimes 15% of buses that should be on the roads are not running. That's an astonishing figure."

Mr Sheerman said it was astounding that First Group could not recruit enough drivers in Huddersfield when the town had about 1,000 people unemployed.

His comments came after he launched an attack in Parliament on First Huddersfield's parent company, First Group.

The Labour MP called bosses at the group "a bunch of cowboys" and said First Group posed "a great threat" to services with its bid to run the East Coast mainline rail service.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Sheerman asked Transport Minister Tony McNulty: "Will you be wary of the fact that anything with First in it, like FirstBus or First whatever, would be a great threat to the east coast line?

"They can't run buses in West Yorkshire and many of us are very worried if GNER lost the franchise to a bunch of cowboys like FirstBus."

Mr McNulty said it would be "not terribly useful" for him to comment while the new franchise was being negotiated.

Graham Riley, business director for First Huddersfield, said the company needed to recruit 15 drivers to bring numbers up to a target of 310.

He said pay compared well with other bus companies, but said the need for shiftwork was deterring potential recruits.

First Huddersfield was offering part-time posts and seeking recruits among working mums and students.

Mr Riley said it took four to five weeks for a recruit to be trained and gain a public service vehicle licence.

As a result, the company was offering a £500 incentive payment to any new recruit who already had a PSV licence.

First Huddersfield is also advertising for drivers in Poland - but it is competing with other First Group companies.

Mr Riley said: "We are trying to recruit drivers as quickly as we can. We are anxious to hear from anyone who wants to be a bus driver.

"We have applied for 10 Polish drivers to come here, but the Polish authorities are struggling to get them to us and there is competition from other bus firms."

A spokesman for First Group agreed that "some of our performance in recent months has not been as good as we or our passengers would like."

But he added: "We do not accept Mr Sheerman's comments relating to our bid for the InterCity East Coast franchise.

"We have a highly experienced team working on the bid and we believe we have what it takes to run a high-quality, inter-city rail service."

What you think:

Name: Mrs Audrey Iredale

Age: 68

Job: Retired

Lives: Crosland Moor

Says: "I'm a regular bus user and I'm very unhappy. There's only one bus an hour now to Crosland Moor - the 361 service I use has changed.

"If I come into town for meetings there used to be a bus at 9.25pm, but that's changed and it's 9.50pm. Now I have to wait at the bus station with youths tearing up and down."

Name: Mrs Rita McMath and daughter Mrs Alexandra Roberts

Age: 58 and 28

Job: Security company worker and mum to six-week-old Cameron

Live: Mount and Salendine Nook

Mrs McMath: She was very unhappy with the service to her Mount home.

"There isn't a service. They stop at 6pm and there are no buses on a Sunday."

Mrs Roberts: She thought the service "reasonable". She uses the adapted buses for Cameron's pram.

Name: Sisters Sultana Iqbal and Shama Ayyaz

Age 14 and 16

Job: Students at Moor End Technology College

Live: Crosland Moor

Say: "We think they're great. The bus stops right outside our house and is quick and convenient to use."

"There's also lots of space at the front of the bus for luggage or any shopping and packages which you have picked up in town."

Name: Kenneth Burhouse

Age: 75

Job: Retired teacher

Lives: Almondbury

Says: "I'm quite happy with the bus services in my area. I use the 340 service and there are no real problems. It's a good, regular service. There have been problems in the past but everything seems to be back on track now."