A SCHOOL transport provider has been warned that he will have to change his ways "significantly" if he is to survive as an operator or transport manager.

Thomas Arthur, who runs Coatbridge-based Arthur's Coaches, has been fined £1,000 by Scotland's Traffic Commissioner for failing to run a scheduled a bus service in August last year.

His licence to operate will also be curtailed from 10 to seven vehicles from July 1.

A public inquiry heard that Mr Arthur had failed to operate the number 215 bus between Coatbridge-Kirkwood service on August 11, 2014.

Traffic examiners from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) had been called out to check on the service after allegations it had suddenly stopped running despite being registered to operate it until September 22.

They also found that prohibitions had been issued to Mr Arthur's vehicles for defects and the annual test history was well below the national average.

The inquiry heard that Arthur's Coaches provided school buses for pupils at St Andrews Secondary in Coatbridge and St Margaret's High in Airdrie.

The Traffic Commissioner noted that while not all was bad with Mr Arthur's vehicle maintenance arrangements, he had been on notice every time one of his vehicles failed at annual test and that they were not roadworthy.

"This simply is not good enough as he now accepts," said Miss Aitken.