A BUS company has introduced an emergency timetable to try to combat service problems in the Wear Valley.

The move by Go North-East comes after complaints from residents in the area about being stranded at bus stops after last minute cancellations.

Natalie Campbell, 34, and Bonita Lamb, 56, both from West Auckland, say that the residents have had enough.

Mrs Lamb said: "People are not getting to work on time and when we ring the bus company all they can say is that there are not enough drivers.

"It has got completely out of hand and something has got to be done.''

A spokesman for Go North-East said that the company had been experiencing difficulties with its services in and around Bishop Auckland and it would be implementing a revised timetable from this Saturday.

He said: "We apologise to customers for any inconvenience that has been caused. We have experienced some operational difficulties and are addressing them.

"We aim to return to a regular timetable as soon as possible.''

The services that will be affected are the numbers 82A, 86, 87, 112 and 118, which all follow routes in the Bishop Auckland area.

A spokesman for Durham County Council said that the authority had been made aware of the problems and that it was working with the company to find a solution.

He said: "We are aware of Go North-East's acute difficulties in recruiting bus drivers and of the problems it is causing to both the company and its passengers.

"Despite its best efforts to remedy the solution by a number of measures including transferring drivers from other depots, putting supervisors behind the wheel and even subcontracting some services to other operators, those problems persist.''

He added that although the emergency timetable would reduce the levels of service it would increase reliability.

Passengers should call Traveline on 0870 6082608 for further details.

* Go North-East is hosting a recruitment drive with Jobcentre Plus in the search for more drivers.

It starts at 10am and runs until 2pm at Gateshead International Stadium on Sunday.