Stagecoach bus stop blunder leaves Easter Ross village passengers puzzled after rogue "poor roads" claim on sign
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A bus company has apologised to passengers after mistakenly suggesting an Easter Ross village bus stop was no longer in use because of poor roads.
A sign with Stagecoach’s logo was spotted today at a stop in Milton village, off the A9 just south of Kildary.
It claimed services had been diverted from the village to stops on the nearby B817 road which links Milton with Invergordon after “damage to vehicles”.
The notice, headed Milton Village, read: “Bus stop not in use until further notice due to poor road conditions causing damage to vehicles.
“Services will operate from New Milton bus stops on the B817 road.”
But when contacted for clarification, a spokeswoman for Stagecoach Highlands issued an apology, saying: “Signage was put up at the stop in error and will be removed.
“To clarify, there is no planned diversion and the stop at Milton Village will be served.
“We apologise to our customers in the area for any inconvenience or distress caused."
After an image of the sign was posted on the Milton Community Woodland Facebook page, there was an angry reaction.
Liz Ross-Bartell posted: “What an utter disgrace.”
Michael Ewan Thomson said: “Oh well, Invergordon and Alness will be next due to the state of the roads, any excuse for them to cut the services.”
Allan MacLeod claimed: “Stagecoach are partly to blame for destroying our roads with their enormous yellow megabus buses that are too big for small villages.”
Becca Jayne Smith pointed out there were “plenty of other places with road conditions worse than Milton”, while Kate Samson contradicted the Stagecoach statement saying she and two others had waited in vain for a 12.30 pm bus at another Milton village stop where there was no sign.
