AN irate passenger says he will continue to monitor the performance of a Darlington bus service.

Anthony Mallon had to wait five weeks for a reply after complaining about Arriva's 22 service between Minor's Crescent and the town centre.

He sent a letter to the company detailing four occasions when the bus was either late or failed to arrive.

"It's a shambolic service and quite frankly I'm disgusted because it happens time and time again," he said.

Mike Barber, spokesman for Arriva North East, said: "We do apologise for not responding to Mr Mallon sooner. We have received his letter and will respond directly. However, on one of the dates he mentions, we had some issues regarding short notice sickness, and on another occasion a driver had to go home at short notice due to a family bereavement.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience Mr Mallon has experienced and would like to assure him that we are working hard to provide the level of service he rightly expects."

Mr Mallon said he accepted the explanation for all but one of his complaints.