The National Express coach firm has stopped picking up passengers in Bingley and Shipley on routes to and from London to dodge delays at Saltaire roundabout, a councillor has revealed.

Martin Love, (Green, Shipley) was contacted by a constituent about the lack of service after a No 561 coach failed to arrive in the town’s bus station and collect his wife, who was heading to London. And National Express has now confirmed that passengers are now being told to go to Keighley or Bradford until February next year.

“The man said she’d bought a ticket on line for London and on ringing National Express was told to pick up a coach at Bradford,” Coun Love said.

“She did that and was told by the driver that coaches were currently avoiding Shipley because of the roadworks. The same was true when she came back and so she had to get off at Bradford, not Shipley. Apparently there are no signs up at the station to tell people about this and if National Express are going to do this, they really should let everybody know. Normally I think the coach comes down from Bingley, through Saltaire, down Kirkgate and into Shipley market and the bus station. I have to say I don’t really see what the problem is because the delays are really not much worse than normal. And they are certainly not enough to warrant cancelling a service.”

Coun Love said he also thought it was a mistake to set the restart date in February. The work is currently ahead of schedule due to the good weather and they should really check it on a weekly basis,” he said.

A National Express spokesman said: “Due to major roadworks at the Saltaire roundabout which were severely delaying services, stops at Shipley and Bingley have been suspended until February 2 next year.

“Following the suspension we contacted customers whose journeys would be affected by the changes. Unfortunately we could only reach those customers who submitted contact details. During the suspension customers cannot buy tickets to travel from Shipley or Bingley, and we are advising passengers to use the alternative departure points of Bradford or Keighley.”

For service information visit nationalexpress.com or call 0871 781 8181