A STATE-RUN bus service is to be set up to plug gaping holes in the Lothian travel network, amid huge cutbacks to operations at First Scotland East. Transport Minister Keith Brown has held crisis talks with council chiefs from East Lothian who are considering setting up their own travel firm to run underperforming bus links to rural towns and villages likely to be abandoned in the First Bus withdrawal.

Yesterday’s news that First Bus was set to axe up to 200 jobs and close its Dalkeith depot while scaling down its Musselburgh base sparked a wave of protest from communities left without any access to public transport. First Scotland East blamed a “challenging” economic climate, high fuel prices and cuts in funding for reductions. The new trading company, to be called East Lothian Transport, would seek to shore up bus links for the threatened routes which currently cater for 95,000 passenger journeys a week.