Commuters are claiming victory against bus chiefs who had decided to cut the number of coaches going to London.

Members of the Southend bus users group have met with Arriva bosses and persuaded them to add six extra buses to popular routes at peak travel times.

Commuters were furious when chiefs at Arriva announced it was merging the London to Southend routes with Thamesway and the number of coaches travelling to London would be cut from 27 to 16.

The company claimed not enough people use the buses - even though 800 take the route.

Now Malcolm McKinnon, coach representative of the bus user group, is delighted with their change of heart.

He said: "It has taken nearly a month to get a sensible decision out of the bus company, but it seems that we now have a victory for common sense."

Mr McKinnon negotiated with bus bosses on the telephone and even persuaded Arriva's commercial director, Nigel Eggleton, to visit Southend and see the situation for himself.

The director also met with members of the bus user group to discuss how the company could help commuters.

Commuters can now expect to have four extra coaches on top of the 16 laid on for the morning rush, and two extra buses to cope with the evening commute.

Insurance broker Zoe Hughes, 22, of Kilworth Avenue, Southend, said: "It is great. I was really worried when Arriva announced the number of buses would be cut.

"The buses are already full when I travel to work in the morning. If the company had cut any more buses people would have had to stand all the way to London.

"This just shows if people stand up to companies they will back down."

An Arriva spokesman said: "Mr Eggleton had a very satisfactory meeting with members of the Southend bus users group.

"The off-peak travel times were seen to be adequately catered for by the group."

He added company managers would continue to meet with the bus user group after Sunday, October 10, when the new timetable and the merger comes into force.

He said: "It is important to keep astride of how people are viewing the change, even after it has taken place.

"We want our customers to keep using our service and we want to ensure we provide them with a good service."

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