A BUS company has revealed its reason to axe Winsford and Middlewich services, stating that their buses will no longer be compliant to the disability regulations in the New Year.


GHA Coaches stopped running three services, the X20, X22 and X81, from Saturday, December 19, and prompted claims from Middlewich councillor Mike Parsons that the withdrawal was due to ‘unsafe’ vehicles.


Cllr Parsons said: “It is nothing short of disgraceful that we find that the services in question have been withdrawn due to, among other things, suggestions that the vehicles on these routes had been found to be outdated and unsafe.”


The bus operator has responded, saying that Cllr Parsons’ claims are wrong and said the real reason was due to new regulations in the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).


The new regulations, which come into affect on Tuesday, January 1, would mean that GHa Coaches would have to buy a replacement vehicle to keep the service going.


Stephen Bryce, general manager of GHA Coaches, said: “Unfortunately, the patronage and revenue on these off peak shopper bus services does not justify purchasing a replacement vehicle which is DDA compliant.


“Although our company is a commercial operation and needs to be operated as a profitable business to survive, we regularly work with Cheshire East Council and other local authorities to fill gaps in the bus network left by other operators.


“The company invested around £1.7 million in brand new vehicles for services in east Cheshire during the 2014/2015 financial year. These have the latest features of leather seats, laminate wood effect flooring, audio and visual next stop announcement system and free passenger Wi-Fi.”


“I am more than willing to talk to Cllr Parsons face to face about the withdrawal of the X20 and X81 bus services.”