STAGECOACH LAST night defended their safety and maintenance record after it emerged their vehicles have been involved in a series of fires and accidents in recent years.

The company came under scrutiny this week when passengers were forced to flee one of their single-decker buses in Dundee when a blaze broke out.

The incident occurred at around 2.20pm on Monday as the single-decker 79A travelled down Broughty Ferry Road towards Blackscroft.

Passengers alerted the driver to smoke billowing from the rear of the bus, and although all the occupants escaped, the vehicle was quickly engulfed by flames.

It emerged yesterday that the fire—thought to have started in the engine compartment—was only one of a number of incidents involving Stagecoach vehicles in recent years.

It is at least the fourth fire-related incident on board the company’s buses in the last 20 months.

But any suggestion the company’s buses in the area were being “used too often” was refuted by Stagecoach Scotland managing director Doug Fleming last night.

Mr Fleming said the latest incident was under investigation but he stressed that the safety of the public and staff was paramount and vehicles were well maintained.

He said, “The cause of the fire is still being independently investigated and it would be inappropriate to comment at this stage without fully establishing our findings.

“Any incident which compromises the safety of passengers and staff is obviously of great concern to the company—we maintain our vehicles and train our staff to the highest standard.

“Our licence requires our buses to be inspected every 28 days. However, Stagecoach have a system in place that requires inspection every 21 days, to a high maintenance standard, and every 14 days for vehicles that operate high mileage—local service vehicles in Angus do not fall into that criteria.

“In addition to this, the first driver using a bus each day carries out an external and internal walk-round check.”

Independent investigators were drafted in by Stagecoach yesterday while the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency also carried out an inspection.

More than 24 hours after tragedy was narrowly averted on the 79A service, Stagecoach said they were unable to reveal findings.

However, a spokesman for VOSA said, “One of our vehicle examiners inspected the vehicle and it would appear an electrical fault caused the fire.”

Emergency services said it was “extremely lucky” passengers and driver emerged unscathed from a bus made partly of highly-flammable fibreglass.