HUNDREDS of fed-up bus users were left high and dry this morning after the staff of one of Bolton's major bus companies went on strike.

Drivers from Stagecoach Ribble, who operate dozens of services throughout the Bolton area, are protesting about a pay claim after unsuccessful negotiations between union leaders and company management.

Commuters on the busy Blackburn Road route waited for their usual buses unaware they weren't going to turn up, while angry drivers picketed outside the Stagecoach depot on Folds Road.

The news of today's industrial action and further strikes after Christmas comes as a double blow to Stagecoach passengers, who claim their patience is becoming exhausted. As reported in the BEN earlier this month, one passenger claimed that a driver had advised the timetable to be ripped up because the service was so unreliable.

One angry traveller said this morning: "The service has been so unreliable since changes a couple of months ago, and now, with forthcoming strikes it is just turning into a farce." He added: "The service is dire, but at least this morning we knew nothing would arrive. Stagecoach said last week they were making more improvements to the evening service, but they want to sort days out first. I finish work at 4.30 in the town centre and used to be home by 5pm. But now, my wife just doesn't know what time to expect me because I am left stranded that often."

Bolton North-east MP David Crausby has also got involved with the fight, handing over a 300-signature petition about Stagecoach's services to Transport Minister Glenda Jackson MP.

The main services affected today were those along the Blackburn Road corridor as well as those in Morris Green, Hulton Lane and routes from Bolton to Tonge Moor, Farnworth, Salford and Manchester. Nobody was available to comment at Stagecoach this morning, but a spokesman expressed the company's regrets on Friday that customers would be left without a normal service. He said: "This industrial action not only affects our customers, but also everyone employed at Ribble."

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