A Fife bus company has pulled its service from Blairhall due to “extremely dangerous” vandalism and anti-social behaviour.
A growing trend of dangerous behaviour came to a head this week when something was thrown at a Bay Travel bus, smashing a window.
A passenger was sitting behind the window when it was smashed on Sunday night but was not seriously hurt.
The company has now pulled almost all of its services from the village until further notice.
This was the reason the service was pulled last night, there was a passenger sitting behind this window who is lucky not to have been seriously hurt, I'm sure you will all agree this is extremely dangerous for passengers and staff. pic.twitter.com/tNebrTaWaY
— Bay Travel (@BayTravelCoach) May 2, 2022
Service 4B/C will now only operate as far as Comrie on the Monday to Saturday timetable.
The route will serve Blairhall on a Sunday, but the last service will leave Dunfermline Bus Station at 5.45pm.
For the rest of the evening, the bus will only go as far as Comrie.
Protecting passengers and staff
The Lochgelly-based company temporarily pulled the service from Blairhall for one night in February.
The situation escalated from there, with several more instances of anti-social behaviour and vandalism from youths in Blairhall and Oakley.
Each time they were forced to end the service early for the night to protect passengers and staff.
Bay Travel‘s managing director Iain Robertson said: “The incidents have been happening in Blairhall – vandalism and anti-social behaviour towards our vehicles and drivers.
“We have been working closely with Fife police and Fife Council to try to rectify the problems and serve the community safely but the behaviour has been getting gradually worse over the last few weeks.
“Until we can find a solution we are now unfortunately having to withdraw the service from Blairhall to protect our passengers and staff.”
Sergeant Kate Blackwell, from Dalgety Bay Police Station, said: “We are aware of ongoing issues with antisocial behaviour and vandalisms which have disrupted the Blairhall community for a number of weeks now.
‘Completely unacceptable’
“This type of conduct is completely unacceptable and extensive work is ongoing to identify the people responsible, so that action can be taken.
“Our community officers have been conducting dedicated patrols in the area, which will continue in the coming days. We are also making extra effort to engage with youths in the community and their parents, to deter them from getting involved in these crimes.
“At this time, we also ask anyone with any information which could assist our enquiries, or possible CCTV footage, to please contact officers on 101.”
‘Incredibly disappointing’
Fife Council service manager for passenger transport, Tony McRae said: “It’s incredibly disappointing that anti-social behaviour on this route has forced the operator to temporarily suspend the service from Blairhall.
“We understand that customers will be frustrated but unfortunately incidents on this route have been getting worse over the last few weeks which has meant the operator had little choice but to take this decision.”
Mr McRae added the authority is are working with Police Scotland to resolve the situation affecting the council-funded service as soon as possible.
Stagecoach will still run buses in the area and notices have been put on display at the affected bus stops.
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