PUPILS were left at bus stops as they tried to get to a secondary school for the first full week of classes in East Lothian this week.

North Berwick High School’s parent council chairman took to social media to highlight concerns about incidents which had occurred, as youngsters from outwith the seaside town tried to use public services to get to class.

Niall Bradley said he had been made aware of problems, ranging from bus timetables not matching new starting and going home times introduced, to buses not turning up, overcrowding and children being “left behind”.

His comments came after some parents vented their anger after pupils in Gullane were left at a bus stop on Monday morning, and were then told their normal service route had changed.

East Coast Buses said it had been working with East Lothian Council to ensure there was enough provision for pupils and would continue to do so.

And it said the issues had been caused by a diversion which was in place preventing its 127 service going to Gullane which has now been resolved.

Mr Bradley took to social media to address the issue, saying: “I’m aware of a list of concerns about buses: timings, buses not shaking up, overcrowding, children being left behind, failure to wear face coverings.

“I know some parents have written to the school, which is great, but I’ve written to our ward councillors to make sure that they are aware of the issues and to ask them to take this up with Transport Services at East Lothian Council.”

One mum claimed pupils were again left stranded this morning in Gullane and others accused buses of failing to stop for pupils on the route, a claim denied by East Coast Buses.

Another parent claimed some bus drivers were refusing to allow pupils to stand on the buses, while others were happy for them to crowd in, with claims some buses had children “standing, sitting in the luggage racks and sitting on the stairs”.

The bus company said it had worked with the council to ensure capacity after months of a reduced service due to Covid-19.

A spokesperson said:  “In advance of the schools reopening, we worked closely with East Lothian Council to add extra capacity to our network for children travelling to and from school.

“On Monday, the first full day back for all school pupils, we encountered some minor issues predominately caused by a road closure and subsequent route diversions.

“As a result not all pupils could be uplifted as planned; however, we have made a number of changes to increase overall capacity, including a timing change from Monday on the Service X5 to provide additional seats between Gullane and North Berwick at the time when children are travelling to school.

“As we move forward, we will continue to liaise with East Lothian Council and local schools to continually review and introduce further changes if and where required.”

North Berwick High School  took to Twitter yesterday evening (Wednesday) to insist there was enough space on the bus service if students used the “right ones”.

The school published its bus timetable with the comment: “Transport have worked hard to resolve the issue with buses along the coastal routes.

“We have plenty of capacity, provided pupils take the right buses to and from school, according to the timetable.”

An East Lothian Council spokesperson: “The 127 was not operating through Gullane due to roadworks in neighbouring West Fenton.

"Pupils in that area had separate transport arranged and our Transport Services team also arranged an additional 33 seater bus to service Gullane to compensate for the loss of service through Gullane. This was used by one pupil on its two days in operation.

“As East Coast Buses is a public transport service, pupils are allowed to stand during transport. We also agree that face coverings should be worn as a mandatory requirement and are working with our schools and school communities to raise awareness of this national guidance.

"We are also working closely with North Berwick High School to align bus service timings with the school’s move to a common school day.

“Having reviewed pupil numbers and available capacity on our buses we believe that there is sufficient capacity and the issues that are highlighting, notwithstanding the 127, are being exacerbated as most pupils have tried to access the very first bus to arrive.

"This was also highlighted when our own officer visited the village on Tuesday to better understand the issue. Again, we are working with our schools and transport providers to manage this process and would appreciate parental support. We would encourage pupils to make use of all buses serving the route.”