NORTH Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) has been forced to step in after a Pickering bus firm said it could no longer provide school bus services.

The authority said that Hayesway Travel, which provided transport to four schools in northern Ryedale, gave it a weekend’s notice that the service was ending. A NYCC spokesman said: “We were notified on Friday afternoon that the operator would be unable to fulfil four school services from Monday.

“We have been successful in putting alternative temporary provisions in place and will be looking for a more permanent solution before the schools go back in September.”

Pickering county councillor Greg White said: “I would like to pay tribute to the staff in the county council passenger transport team. Their swift and effective response to the collapse of Hayesway Travel, who provided home-to-school transport in Pickering and Thornton-le-Dale, has resulted in alternative services being established with immediate effect. The transport team have dealt with several similar situations this year and it is a testament to their professionalism that each has been resolved without disruption to the service users.”

Hayesway could not be reached for comment by the Gazette & Herald.