Anger as bus drivers told of job losses by text
Drivers at a North Yorkshire bus firm, which announced it was going into liquidation on Twitter, say they were told by text message their company was closing and they would lose their jobs.
Utopia Coaches, based at Sherburn in Elmet, North Yorkshire, provided services to rural communities between Selby, Drax, Tadcaster and York.
The company announced it was going into liquidation in a tweet on Wednesday evening, about an hour after drivers said they received the text messages.
In a tweet, the company said: “As from 00.01 hrs Wednesday 23rd August, Utopia Coaches will cease trading. No services will operate again from this time.”
Driver Carl Longfield told BBC News: “I left the depot thinking everything was OK saying, ‘see you tomorrow’ and I got home and got a text at about 19:55 saying ‘thank you very much but we are ceasing trading at 00:01′.
“We had no idea the company was in such a bad state,” he said.
After a meeting with the company’s liquidator, staff were told they would receive two weeks’ pay if they had been with the company for two years or more.
North Yorkshire County Council said it was working to offer alternatives for subsidised services, including school bus services and was was in discussions with other operators about the possibility of restoring some of the company’s commercial routes.
