ALTERATIONS have been made to a Wee County bus route following feedback from commuters.

First Bus have confirmed that the 52 service from Manor Powis to Stirling via Alloa has been rescheduled from 6.57am to 6.47am.

This journey will operate 10 minutes earlier throughout to allow connections at Stirling onto other services.

A new journey will depart from Manor Powis at 7:26am to Stirling via Alloa to improve journey opportunities along the route for key workers and schoolchildren.

These changes were implemented on the First Bus timetables from Monday, January 17.

The move comes after commuters voiced their disappointment at the lack of service and flexibility offered by the bus provider.

MSP Keith Brown recently wrote a letter to First Bus highlighting the difficulties his constituents now faced, including one person living in Menstrie who was forced to get a bus two hours before the start of a shift in Bannockburn each morning.

A First Bus spokesperson said: “We can confirm that as a result of feedback that we’ve received through local stakeholders, we’re making the [aforementioned] changes to service 52.

“We can also confirm that most of our Bannockburn depot based routes will revert back to pre-festive frequencies with effect from Monday, January 24.

“We’d like to thank customers for their patience and understanding during this challenging period.”

Mr Brown praised First Bus for addressing the concerns of his constituents.

He said: “A number of local people have been in touch with me since First Bus announced changes to the 52 Service and I raised this with senior management at the company.

“I’m pleased that these concerns have been listened to and that First Bus have agreed to make amendments to their revised January timetable.

“I have also received assurances from First Bus that they intend to reinstate the pre-Christmas timetable as much as possible by January 24.

“This month, the Scottish Government began allowing under 22s to register for free bus travel around Scotland.

“This will have a massive positive impact on mobility for young adults and for reaching our climate change targets.

“A vital part of promoting this scheme will be ensuring that bus services are as accessible and convenient as possible – and that is what I’ll continue to work with communities and bus operators to achieve.”