THE managing director of a travel company has described the rapid steps that have been taken after another coach company closed with immediate effect.

As hundreds of school children were left with no means of transport after Jansen Travel announced they were ceasing operations, Wigton-based Reays have had to put on services to aid those in assistance.

The company’s MD, Chris Reay, said: “We’re just trying to pull everything together. We’ve operated for Keswick schools for 15 years, there’s another couple of operators that run services, but we are the biggest and Jansen Travel were the second biggest.

“The owner of Jansen sent an email at 8pm on Monday night stating that due to Covid and other situations he has decided to stop operations with immediate effect.

"Instantly, we posted on Facebook saying that we can help in any way we can. Today, we have said we will run three coaches to Keswick on the exact same routes the Jansen services took.

"We have also agreed to run services to Cockermouth, again on the same services Jansen provided. We contacted a number of their drivers who will now drive the routes for us."

Adding what Reays are doing to help, Chris shared: “The big issue is that numerous people have called who have arranged for coaches for their weddings and private events; parents of the school kids have also had to pay for travelling in advance and all that money is now gone.

“We’re picking up as much as we can. If anyone wants any further information, they can get in touch with our main office in Wigton on 01697 349999 or via email on info@reays.co.uk.”

A Cumbria County Council spokesperson said: “The council’s transport team is working hard to put in place temporary cover for affected school routes which are contracted by the council.

“Schools have been contacted and will be updated regularly as alternative provision is confirmed.

“Of the 351 affected pupils, we have secured alternative provision for 337 (96 percent) of them, starting from Wednesday.

“The remaining 14 have all been contacted (parents/carer) and so far they have been very understanding. We’ll continue sourcing provision for the remaining pupils.”