A petition calling for the reopening of the Dartmouth bus depot has obtained more than 260 signatures in less than two weeks.

The depot was closed in September, sparking a public backlash. Bus users have since complained of poor bus services, including breakdowns, cancellations and long delays.

The petition also calls for the transfer of the service should bus firm Stagecoach, which ran the site at the park and ride, refuse to reverse its decision.

The petition was started early this month by Dartmouth resident Dan Wallace, who relies on a local bus service for his daily commute. Since the closure, he said the service “has become woefully inadequate”, claiming buses are “constantly late” and that drivers “often seem lost”.

In a recent incident late last month, a group of Dartmouth-based students was left stranded in the evening after their bus was cancelled.

Cllr Malcolm Matthews, of Dartmouth council, warned before the closure that services would be cut or delayed, as buses would have to travel from further out in Plymouth and Newton Abbot. Without a depot, breakdowns and incidents in bad weather would have a greater impact on passengers as it could take longer for a replacement bus to arrive.

Stagecoach was asked to comment by this paper but the firm would not say whether it was reconsidering its decision.

Instead, it released a similar statement to the one it made weeks ago, saying the past year had been “very challenging” due to a decline in the number of passengers and a drop in revenue, adding that this had made it necessary to evaluate the future of the depot.

The statement however went on to apologise to Dartmouth residents who had been affected by the operational and timetable changes.

It said: “We remain fully committed to providing local bus services in Dartmouth that the community can rely on and will ensure, moving forward, the delivery of the timetables in the area are delivered to the highest possible standard of reliability.”