Bus passengers have expressed their frustration at the frequent cancellations of the Swindon-Oxford service after being forced to stand in the cold.

Stagecoach West, which runs the S6, has blamed the national shortage of drivers on the pandemic, Brexit and DVLA taking longer to process bus driver licences.

But DVLA has said that provisional licence applications are being issued in around five days.

Michelle Hutchings, who travels between South Marston and Swindon Bus Station for work, explained that sometimes two or three buses in a row fail to turn up. If the 6.25pm bus home is cancelled, she has to wait for more than an hour.

She pays £63 monthly for the service and said: “Everyone says it’s a lottery whether you will get to work on time. 

“I’ve had to come home and let my employer know that I’m going to be late.

“I keep going earlier and earlier to the bus stop and sometimes it still doesn’t pay off.

“For a journey that should only take an hour, it’s now taking me two and a half hours.

“A lot of people get upset because they’re worried they’re going to be fired if they’re late. Sometimes people have even got taxis.

“We just have to queue up and stand outside in the cold. Everyone’s fed up with the lack of communication.”

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Stagecoach West announces changes to its services on its app and via Twitter but Michelle says that some passengers don’t have access to the technology.

She added: “I don’t really want all these apps on my phone which drain the battery.

“Older people who don’t have the technology often have no idea and there are no chairs when they turn up.

“I don’t see why everyone should have to sign up to these apps to access a service we pay monthly for.”

Managing director of Stagecoach West Rachel Geliamassi said: “We apologise to our customers in Swindon who have been affected by travel disruptions. 

“It is challenging to communicate live service updates across our network which is why we encourage people to use the Bus App and Twitter. 

“We are continuing to run over 95 per cent of our timetabled services and are working hard to return to full services as quickly as possible. 

“There is currently a UK-wide driver shortage which is affecting the entire transport and logistics sector, with an estimated shortfall of 4,000 drivers nationwide.” 

Stagecoach West is recruiting drivers but training takes on average 10 weeks.

She added: “Delays outside our control in the processing of licences means we cannot get them on the road on our network as fast as we would like.”

A DVLA spokesperson said: “There are no delays for bus and HGV provisional licence applications which are currently being issued in around 5 days – we are prioritising these applications and looking at ways to speed up this process even further.

“The vast majority of HGV applications we have are drivers renewing their licences and in most cases these drivers can continue to drive while we are processing their application provided they have not been told by their doctor or optician they should not drive.”