BOSSES at a bus company which serves Wyre Forest has vowed to further improve punctuality following a string of complaints into its performance.

Traffic Commissioner issued a formal warning to Diamond Bus Ltd, owned by Rotala, following a public inquiry into issues such as poor punctuality, frequent breakdowns, vehicles running out of fuel and bad communication with customers.

But the company said it has more plans to boost performance and build on major improvements already made.

A spokesman for Diamond Bus Ltd said: “At the recent Public Inquiry the Traffic Commissioner gave Diamond Bus a formal warning for its failure to operate local bus services to the punctuality standards required by the Senior Traffic Commissioner's statutory guidance.

“This guidance sets a level of compliance of 95 per cent. However, the Traffic Commissioner did accept that Diamond Bus was very close to this performance target in achieving a level of compliance of between 91 and 92 per cent.

“In making his judgement we are also pleased that the Traffic Commissioner accepted that some of the issues regarding reliability were outside of the control of Diamond Bus.

“Furthermore, it is gratifying that the Traffic Commissioner recognised the work we have undertaken during the last year in improving our punctuality performance.

“This work will continue with the target of meeting the 95 per cent punctuality standard that the Traffic Commissioner expects.

“In particular, we are working with stakeholders to adjust timetables, where appropriate, to combat the effects of ever worsening traffic congestion across the region.

“As part of our plan to improve bus punctuality we have also committed to invest £600,000 in new ticket machines for Diamond Bus.

“These machines are the most modern ticket machines of their type and incorporate the latest technology. Installation of the new machines will commence in April 2017

“This major investment by Diamond Bus will therefore bring improved levels of service to our bus passengers as well as helping us to move to the 95 per cent punctuality target.

“Finally, we are very pleased that the Traffic Commissioner also agreed to an increase in the total number of our bus operating licences to 275 from 228.

“This increase will enable Diamond Bus to continue to expand its bus services to meet increased customer demand."