FIRST Group has said it will not cut any bus routes in the capital after a ruling by the Competition Commission gave the company only weeks to respond to the chaos caused by tram works on Princes Street.

The Aberdeenshire-based transport giant applied to alter routes in Edinburgh last September to avoid losses caused by a 10-month programme of tram repairs.

The ruling, reported yesterday in The Herald, is only expected to take effect in April and would need approval by the Office of Fair Trading. Princes Street is due to re-open in June.

A spokesman for First in Scotland East said: "We have no plans at this time to cut frequency or services into Edinburgh."