Bin lorry drivers have been drafted in to take pupils in North Lanarkshire to school after Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) couldn’t provide a full bus service.
The move means the collection of blue paper and card bins has been suspended for the next three weeks until September 12, Lanarkshire Live reports.
It comes after SPT, who organise North Lanarkshire Council’s school transport contracts, informed the council last week that they were not been able to “organise buses” on a total of 43 routes to primary and secondary schools in the area.
The wave of school bus cancellations - hours before kids returned to the classroom for the new term - sparked fury among Lanarkshire parents, who slammed council and transport chiefs as 'incompetent' and 'a disgrace'.
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The council’s statement said: “Residents may be aware that SPT failed to put in place a number of school bus contracts in time for the start of term.
“While work has been carried out to reduce the number of school bus routes affected, many remain unserviced. The council has a legal duty to transport children who are eligible to school.
“To assist SPT, who have sourced some additional buses but have been unable to engage drivers, some of our appropriately trained and qualified drivers will be required to drive buses for school transport.
“While we will seek to engage replacement drivers as quickly as possible, this means that we have taken the difficult decision to suspend collection of blue paper and card bins for the next three weeks, until Monday September 12.
“During this time, residents are asked not to present their blue bins for collection. Please either dispose of paper and card in your general waste bin or, if possible, take it to a recycling centre.
“We apologise for the inconvenience this temporary suspension of service will cause.”
A spokeswoman for SPT said: “While we have ensured contracts for the majority of councils on time and ahead of the new school year beginning, a number of bus operators have, at short notice, now declined a number of approved and awarded contracts in North Lanarkshire.
“We apologise to all parents, pupils and schools affected. Due to the short notice given by operators, we have not been able to put in place alternative arrangements.
“Our schools’ team is working hard to find transport on a temporary emergency basis for pupils affected.”
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