Arriva has apologised to residents for its 'diabolical' bus service in High Wycombe and promised that improvements are underway.

Residents near High Wycombe hit out at Arriva last month for its increasingly irregular and 'frustrating' bus service, which left many stranded, waiting for long periods or resorting to other forms of transport.

A spokesperson for the bus company, which serves many towns across the county, has now apologised to those impacted by the disruption since the beginning of the year.

They said: "Recently, we have had some operational difficulties with the services operated by our High Wycombe depot. Unfortunately, this has resulted in a number of journeys being cancelled and we are sorry for the disruption this has caused.

"We have put in place a number of mitigating actions to address the issue and so far, this has delivered significant improvements. Passengers should be starting to see these improvements and we are confident that the situation will improve yet further in the coming weeks."

Jenny Bunni, 74, from Marlow, slammed Arriva for its "diabolical" service last week after she saw five buses between Marlow and High Wycombe cancelled in just one day.

"It's a real problem - I know people who have missed dental appointments and whose children can't get to school because there are no buses.

"When you live somewhere like Marlow or Bourne End, you are isolated - some people can only get into Wycombe on the bus."

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Claire Madden, 44, from Flackwell Heath, expressed similar concerns at the beginning of February after her son was repeatedly forced to wait long periods for his school bus, standing "day after day, out in the cold".

She said: "He had to get a late pass at school because he was getting detentions. It's so frustrating. We're paying upfront for this service and what we're getting in return is just inadequate."

Claire said she believes it is a long-term issue that has been recurring intermittently over the last few years, adding: "You'll have a month or so where it works, and you're supposed to be grateful for that, but it never lasts."

Steven Broadbent, Cabinet Member for Transport at Buckinghamshire Council, previously told the Free Press he had raised the issue of late and disrupted services with Arriva and "reminded them of the responsibility to provide a reliable service for residents and young people using the route to get to and from school".