STAGECOACH boss Martin Griffiths saw his total pay tumble in a year which saw the Scottish transport firm book hefty exceptional costs relating to its running of the East Coast rail franchise, writes Scott Wright.

The UK Government stripped Virgin Trains East Coast – run by Stagecoach and Virgin - of the contract to run the London to Edinburgh line last month after it failed to meet revenue targets.

That was followed by Perth-based Stagecoach reporting exceptional expenses of £85.6 million relating to the franchise when it announced its results for the year ended April 28 last month.

The 2018 annual report for Stagecoach, published yesterday, shows that Mr Griffiths was paid a total of £987,000 for the period, down from £1.3m the year before. The decline largely reflects the fact he did not receive a performance-related bonus under the group’s short-term incentives scheme for 2018. He received a £302,000 bonus the year before.

Announcing the group’s results in June, Mr Griffiths said he was “surprised and disappointed” at the decision of transport minister Chris Grayling to re-nationalise the East Coast franchise.

According to the report, chairman Sir Brian Souter, who founded Stagecoach with sister Ann Gloag in 1980, saw his fees edge up to £217,000 from £213,000.