STAGECOACH has warned it might have to cut its bus services because of traffic congestion in Darlington.

The company was fined £50,000 by the Traffic Commissioners before Christmas, after a public inquiry into its failure to meet its targets in Hartlepool and Stockton.

Richard Cranmer, divisional traffic manager, made the shock announcement at a meeting of the Town Centre Forum on Thursday of last week.

"It is likely frequencies will be dropped in order to make the running times more reliable. We have not yet made any decision. It is a big thing to do, but obviously we can't go through life being fined that sort of figure every year or risk having our licence taken away from us.

"Whatever we do will be carefully thought out and we will work with council officers to ensure the effects will be minimised.

"However, it is important that people are aware we are looking at it. We can't throw more and more buses at services if there is simply more traffic."

John Buxton, director of development and environment, said he hoped a draft scheme for North Road - which was unveiled on Monday - and improvements in Yarm Road would help anyone coming into Darlington There were also access plans for the town centre.

"Within three months we will have a package of proposals, which will give you an idea of permanent improvements which will be made in the town," he promised.

Mr Cranmer told the D&S Times that the £750,000 scheme for North Road (see plan on page 10) - involving a new junction and a new road behind the B&Q store - would be tremendous if it went through.

"But we still have three years of pain before that actually happens. It will have a wonderful impact on what is the worst junction in Darlington.

"It would be even better for us if bus lanes were included, but that has not been mooted as a possibility. We will continue to lobby for that.

"Congestion is a very big issues and one we just can't ignore. A lot of the problem is the scale of roadworks we have experienced in Darlington.

"It is terrible and there are certain times of the week - Friday evenings and other peak periods - when everything grinds to a halt.

"The easiest solution is to reduce frequencies. There will be times when we can't justify the timetable, but we will work with the council all the time to ensure they know the situation."

He added: "We certainly don't want a repetition of the £50,000 fine, which was a warning in itself. Darlington is on the same operator's licence so it affected us as well.

"We need to ensure buses have enough time to operate the route they are given. The last thing we want is to inconvenience people."

l Park and ride could ease congestion: Page 12