BUS operator Arriva has vowed to take action on the reliability of one of its main Oswestry services after users complained about delays and no-shows.

Route 53 has been criticised online after buses were delayed or didn’t show up at all, creating inconvenience for passengers, including children.

In a post about this issue, Amy Holmes said: "The driver of the 53 bus this morning (April 18) getting the St Martins kids to school has once again refused a child for some reason or the other.

"This seems to be a habit of his as I've had to report him in the past for trying to refuse my daughter's 12 year old friend because the app wouldn't load on her phone to show her ticket and he was about to just leave her there, if I wasn't there to stand up for her.

"Anyway so when I called Arriva I was told that it is the drivers "duty of care" to not refuse any child a ride even if they have no means to pay.

"So please make your children aware of this incase the app doesn't work for them."

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Another member of the public said the bus didn’t show up one morning at all and they had to make quick new arrangements to get a pupil to school.

They added: “It would have been better if there was some way the depot could have notified passengers maybe via social media or the Arriva app so the kids weren't stood around waiting and alternative arrangements could have been made by families.”

Now Arriva has explained that its Shropshire depots are currently facing driver shortages.

A spokesperson from the public transport provider said: “Our focus has been on ensuring that school and college services are maintained wherever possible, but unfortunately some delays to these services might occur as our depot teams manage any issues as they arise.

“Cancellations to any service are updated onto the Arriva app.

“Driver shortages in the bus industry is a UK wide issue and is not unique to bus services in Shropshire.

“We have been working hard to bring into the business and recruit new drivers and will continue to do so.”

They added that recruiting new workers is a ”lengthy process” because they want to ensure the drivers are training to meet the required standards.

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They said: “We are also proactivity looking at making some changes to services, and work patterns that will help to reduce our driver requirement.

“These processes will not generate immediate results, but as they are phased in, they will help with the challenges we are currently facing.

“Route 53 is an important part of our bus network in Shropshire and rest assured we are doing all we can to get reliability back to where it should be.”