COMMUTERS have been left stranded in Glasgow’s south side after a bus company unexpectedly stopped running a busy service today.

City Sprinter operates the 38 from Eastwood Toll in Giffnock to the city centre.

Hundreds of customers have paid up front for weekly and monthly tickets.

Several commuters contacted the Evening Times this morning to say the bus service appears to have stopped.

Drivers for rival firm First have told people waiting at stops on the route that they have not seen a single City Sprinter bus on the roads this morning.

One customer said: “City Sprinter buses don’t appear to be operating. A driver for First Bus said he hadn’t seen any and he didn’t know why.”

Another commuter said: “First drivers were trying to tell other people waiting on buses that the City Sprinters weren't coming. I’m extremely angry about it because City Sprinter have not even told their customers.”

City Sprinter’s website states that it is a “well-established transport company with over 20 years of experience to its name”.

It runs the service 38 from Eastwood Toll to Renfrew Street every 10 minutes, six days a week.

One customer said: “They offer the cheapest travel from Giffnock to town and affordable weekly tickets. If they have gone bust it’s going to have a massive financial impact on commuting families already struggling because their pass is only £30, about £15 cheaper than other companies.”

The firm’s website states that “City Sprinter is currently upgrading its fleet and passengers can look forward to larger buses with uniformed drivers and no fares increase for the foreseeable future”, but there is no information on the website about cancelled services today.

The firm was to be stripped of its operating licence in 2013 after failing to provide evidence to the Traffic Commissioner of “appropriate financial standing” but a successful appeal gave the company a last minute reprieve.

The request for details of company finances followed a public inquiry which heard that an inspection of the operator's premises in January by a traffic examiner led to concerns that drivers may have been routinely exceeding legal working hours.

On another occasion inspectors discovered that a City Sprinter bus operating in East Renfrewshire had its emergency exit cordoned off with clothing tied “between the seats to prevent passengers from using the seats, which had become soaked earlier that day after a heating pipe burst”.

Inspectors had also raised concerns about the number of Sprinter buses failing maintenance checks.

The Evening Times contacted City Sprinter this morning but there was no one available to comment.