A BUS company has apologised to a Bradford woman after cancelled and delayed services made her life “a nightmare”.

Anne Weaver, 49, from Bierley, uses public transport to get to and from work and to hospital appointments, but said the unreliable service from First meant she was often late.

Ms Weaver, who is a support worker in the community but is currently off sick, normally uses the 620 service from First for work, but said it had been a constant source of frustration over the past few months.

She said: “I spend more than £14 a week on a bus pass, and the buses either go missing or are not turning up.

“They cancel for no reason and I have had to wait for more than half an hour for the next one, meaning I am getting to work late, or I have to stand in a bus stop in the dark after work by myself.

“I’ve lost jobs in the past because I have been late too many times thanks to the poor service.

“One time there were about 50 people waiting at the bus stop because one had not turned up. They are just failing to do their jobs, which affects the customers.”

Ms Weaver said at least one bus a day on the 620 route was cancelled without warning, and also complained after she said a driver forced her to get off the bus.

“I was searching in my bag for my pass and he forced me to get off, which meant I had to wait ages for another bus, and he was just so rude to me, it’s disgusting.

“Since I became sick I rely on the buses even more, so the unreliable service is really worrying if it means I keep missing appointments.”

In letters to Ms Weaver, First said it was very sorry for the inconvenience caused by the failure of service.

The letter stated: “In recent weeks we have had staffing issues at our Bradford depot, and they haven’t always been able to provide spare drivers at such short notice to cover all the routes.

“This has unfortunately meant that services have had to be cancelled or we have been unable to operate the full service.

“We do realise that our current performance is not to the standard that we wish to deliver, and I realise that as you depend on us we are letting you and several other customers down, and we truly are very sorry about this.”

The letter said of the allegedly rude driver: “We have identified the driver and they will now be spoken to by their manager and reminded of the standard we expect of all our drivers.”

In a statement, a spokesman for First said: “We are working hard to provide the best possible service for customers using the 620.

“From time to time, unfortunately things can go wrong, and we have written to Ms Weaver to apologise.

“We are taking steps to ensure that the punctuality and reliability of the service improves quickly.

“We expect the highest customer service standards from our Bradford drivers. They do a terrific job and we’re very proud of the positive feedback we receive on a daily basis. We were therefore disappointed to hear about Ms Weaver’s complaint.”