STAGECOACH has thanked its passengers for their patience as their services continue to be affected by 'extensive roadworks' in Carlisle.

The response from Stagecoach comes after a complaint was made by a Carlisle resident who shared how he was forced to wait for almost an hour for a bus into the city centre. 

Frank Graham, who lives in the Morton Park area, was made to wait for the 61 service that he normally uses to get into Carlisle. He described how this was not a one-off occurrence and explained how has seen delays to the 62, 63, and 67 services that also serve his area.

He said: "I waited for 40 minutes on Friday (February 16) for a bus into Carlisle. This is not an isolated incident and a lot of residents are getting frustrated with the delays.

"The buses are meant to come every ten minutes and on that specific day, there were at least three missing."

In response to this complaint, Stagecoach issued a statement that thanked its local passengers for their patience as they attempted to provide reliable and punctual services, however cited Carlisle's recent 'extensive roadworks' as a main factor in creating delays.

Whilst not naming any specific works, Carlisle in recent months has seen works carried out on roads such as Devonshire Street, Warwick Road, and Victoria Road.

Tom Waterhouse, managing director of Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire said: "Our teams are working hard to ensure that the vast majority of local services continue to run as normal.  

"We are currently providing 98 per cent of all our services without disruption, however, our bus services in Carlisle have been affected by high levels of congestion caused by extensive roadworks in place across the city, particularly along key routes which serve Carlisle City Centre.

"We appreciate that delays and cancellations are frustrating and I would like to sincerely thank all of our passengers for their patience and understanding during these times."