FEARS have been raised that an express bus service connecting North Berwick to Edinburgh has been “silently scrapped”.

East Coast Buses’ X5 ran through Dirleton, Gullane and Aberlady on its way into the Capital via the A1.

However, the service was suspended during the national lockdown restrictions.

Craig Hoy, a South Scotland MSP, has written to the bus company, as well as East Lothian Council, in a bid to see the service reintroduced.

Mr Hoy, who also represents the Haddington and Lammermuir ward on the local authority, said: “Constituents in Gullane and Aberlady have contacted me regarding their concerns about the lack of public transport facilities and infrastructure in the area.

“The X5 bus service was widely used, and now there are fears that the service has been silently scrapped without any consultation of the local community.

“A substantial number of East Lothian residents commute into central Edinburgh and this is set to increase over the coming months with the reopening of office spaces in the city following the easing of lockdown restrictions.

“East Coast Buses are a subsidiary of Lothian Buses, who are owned by East Lothian Council and the three other local council areas in Lothian.”

Commuters from Dirleton, Gullane and Aberlady now face up to an extra hour on their journey into Edinburgh without the service.

In the absence of the X5, there is the 124 service, which also connects North Berwick to Edinburgh.

However, the service does not join the A1 and instead passengers have a lengthier journey as the bus passes through Longniddry, Prestonpans, Wallyford, Musselburgh and into the Capital.

A spokeswoman for East Lothian Council told the Courier that there were still issues facing transport providers, including “an extremely challenging recruitment market”.

She said: “Their ability to maintain consistent delivery of reliable service is vital and, as such, until they have the confidence that they are able to do so, they are not in a position to reintroduce service X5.

“They have assured us that… it’s a priority to re-establish service X5 just as soon as driver resource permits; however, with the unpredictability of the recruitment climate, they are currently unable to confirm when this may be.”

A spokesperson for East Coast Buses echoed the position that there were challenging circumstances.

They said: “East Coast Buses is absolutely committed to delivering for all of our customers in East Lothian.

“Like many other transport providers at this time, we are in an extremely challenging recruitment market, which, coupled with our safety protocols for colleagues who find themselves in the Covid-19 track and trace cycle, means that we are experiencing significant resourcing difficulties in our driving team on a day-to-day basis.

“With limited available resource, we have made the difficult decision to prioritise key services which provide as many transport links as possible throughout East Lothian.

“In terms of service provision for Gullane and Aberlady, we have focused on delivering service 124, which provides critical local links along the coast as well as direct travel to Edinburgh.”