Village residents claim they have been left standing in the rain due to a lack of seats on minibuses introduced on services in the north-east.
Smaller Stagecoach vehicles were launched to operate on services with “lower levels of demand” in rural communities in September.
Mercedes Sprinter minibuses took on some of the 81 and 82A services in the Boddam area.
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However, Ian Garvock, whose elderly father lives in the coastal village and regularly uses public transport, says the smaller vehicles are no use.
He said: “My main concern is that buses are driving past people who are disabled, elderly and young because they have already picked up 13 passengers.
“The whole of Boddam is complaining about this, I think they’ve had over 60 complaints from locals since they changed the service.
“There was one day the bus had reached its first stop and was then full so it just drove past everyone else.
“My impression is that these buses were put here as they were no use elsewhere but I don’t think they’re of any use here.
“When disabled passengers or people with dogs get on, there’s not space for other wheelchair users or dogs.
“They say it’s to improve and protect the service but it’s just leaving people in the rain.”
A spokeswoman for Stagecoach North Scotland said they were delighted to bring in three of the minibuses to the Buchan fleet.
“The fleet of minibuses has received feedback, both positive and negative since their introduction in September and can fully appreciate that our customers will have a range of views on these buses.
“We have introduced these smaller vehicles to areas where we see lower levels of demand as this allows us to keep fares affordable while continuing to provide bus services to the smaller communities, protecting the frequency and service in these areas where there is less demand.
“We have been operating the minibuses on our services whereby shorter journeys are made as they are designed for this rather than longer trips.
“We are aware that some customers in Boddam have been opting to wait for our Buchan Xpress vehicles rather than using the service operated by minibus as we have three different vehicle types operating between Boddam and Peterhead.
“We are not currently aware of any problems with the capacity on the services operated by minibuses.”
Customers unable to board a service due to it reaching capacity should contact bluebird.enquiries@stagecoachbus.com or call 01224 591381 with details of the date, time, stop and service number.