Greys of Ely stops Witchford College bus service due to road

Richard Grey, managing director of Grey's of Ely, said the company had handed a section of the route back to Cambridgeshire County Council. 

He told the Ely Standard that White Cross Road, which coaches use to take children to and from Witchford Village College, had "deteriorated significantly".

A spokesperson for the county council confirmed it has offered alternative transport to seven pupils impacted by the move. 

Mr Grey said: "These particular services running to Witchford Village College had quite a surge in passenger numbers, so the requirement is that a double decker bus is used.

"One section of one route runs on a B-road through Grunty Fen from Haddenham to Witchford and very early on in the term the vehicle had sustained damage.

"The rear fibreglass had been pulled off the vehicle on three occasions.

"Drivers were reporting to us that the road had deteriorated significantly from the last time we'd operated that route." 

He added: "We visited this particular stretch ourselves and could see that the road has subsided and shrunk, with massive fissures and potholes.

"The road is about two miles long and the issue is that it is a single track road with passing places so drivers can't navigate around or try to avoid the damage. 

"We emailed the council and let them know that this section of the route was unsustainable and they've provided a minibus and taxis with greater ground clearance to pick up students along that route." 

Mr Grey said he would like to see a long-term maintenance plan after drivers encountered damage from potholes on recently-resurfaced sections of the A10. 

Managing director of Grey's of Ely Richard Grey said White Cross Road had deteriorated significantly. (Image: Richard Grey)He added: "Sections of the A10 at Waterbeach have fairly big potholes on it and that's where we're seeing chunks coming out of tyres. 

"We're also seeing damage to windscreens where bits of material and stones flick up from the potholes.

"The legal compliance for us is that we have to get windscreens and tyres changed which cost us significant amounts of money.

Cambridgeshire's roads do seem to be pretty dire but we have a fairly nice climate, so we really should be able to tackle this problem."

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire County Council said: "We're aware that Grey Coaches requested to avoid White Cross Road on their route into Witchford Village College.

"Seven pupils were affected and all seven were offered transport to school with another provider, without disruption to their school attendance.

“Climate change and extreme weather has taken a toll on roads constructed over fen soils. As part of our investment into highways, we're spending an additional £43m on road maintenance over the next two years and £5m of that is committed to deal specifically with soil affected roads.

"Work is already underway in many parts of the county. We have inspected White Cross Road and will be undertaking necessary repairs.”