A BUS company insists its performance is improving after Esther McVey called for urgent action on a service that Northwich students rely on.

The Tatton MP wrote to Warrington’s Own Buses over the reliability of the CAT 9 service, which runs through Antrobus, Comberbach, Great Budworth, Wincham, Lostock Gralam and Northwich on its way to Sir John Deane’s College and The County High School, Leftwich.

It follows a meeting with residents and Cllr Phil Marshall, Conservative member for Marbury on Cheshire West and Chester Council, where families spoke out about the bus failing to turn up on time.

But Warrington’s Own Buses insists the problem was due to roadworks in London Road, which lasted for six weeks from October 21 last year.

Ms McVey said: “Hearing from parents and residents at the meeting it is clear the reliability of the service is not up to scratch.

“Whilst accepting that the bus company can’t help roadworks disrupting a route, they can make sure they have contingency plans and they can certainly ensure that they have buses that don’t break down.”

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Residents told Ms McVey that their children keep in contact with other students along different parts of the route to check if the bus is running on time – while parents also stay in touch to arrange lifts at short notice.

Members of Comberbach Parish Council and Great Budworth residents also spoke out about wider issues with the bus service in their area.

“We need to get this route resolved and then have a bigger discussion about the value of buses in rural villages,” Ms McVey added.

“I want people to be able to live in the villages they want to and not be force to move out of a particular area when they are older and maybe stop driving.

“We need to have decent bus services to ensure people can access the facilities they want and need without having to rely on a car.”

No representative from Warrington’s Own Buses attended the meeting, but in a statement the firm insists reliability of the CAT 9 has improved since the roadworks last autumn.

A spokesman for Warrington’s Own Buses said: “We welcome feedback on how to continuously improve our service, and over recent months have been working harder than ever to ensure reliability and punctuality of our services.

“Unfortunately, these works took place at a time of year when traffic is already at its peak due to colder, wetter and wintry conditions and traffic in the run up to Christmas.

“These works in some cases severely delayed our buses and so we quickly acted to insert an additional bus into the cycle.

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“Despite our best efforts, the works still caused delays. We have previously contacted schools and other partners to let them know about issues we’ve faced on the roads.

“Since the roadworks were completed, our punctuality has improved and nine out of 10 of our buses are on time every day.”

Passengers can get live bus timetable information online at traveline.info while updates are also provided @WarringtonBuses on Twitter.