A 20-YEAR-OLD bus firm which was due to be banned from operating today has been given an 11th hour reprieve after lodging an appeal against losing its licence.

Glasgow-based City Sprinter was expected to have its operating licence revoked one minute before midnight tonight on the orders of the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland.

However, a spokesman for the firm confirmed it would not be off the road after being granted a stay until its appeal can be heard.

The Herald revealed last week that the Sprinter was to be stripped of its licence after the company failed to provide evidence to the Traffic Commissioner of "appropriate financial standing".

The request for details of company finances followed a public inquiry in August which heard that an inspection of the operator's premises in January by a traffic examiner led to concerns that drivers may have been routinely exceeding legal working hours on the No 38 service from Shawlands by up to 40 minutes.

On another occasion, on ­January 25, inspectors discovered that a City Sprinter bus operating in East Renfrewshire had its ­emergency exit cordoned off with clothing tied "between the seats to prevent passengers from using the seats, which had become soaked earlier that day after a heating pipe burst".

The driver, Stuart McFarlane, was also stripped of his licence for five weeks for offences including using a mobile phone at the wheel, cutting through a red light and carrying passengers on a bus while its emergency exit was blocked.

Inspectors had also raised concerns about the number of Sprinter buses failing maintenance checks.

A spokesman for the Upper Tribunal, a branch of the Ministry of Justice which handles appeals against decisions by Traffic Commissioners for Scotland, England and Wales, confirmed yesterday that an appeal against the licence ruling had been lodged.

No date has yet been set for an appeal hearing, but City Sprinter will be allowed to continue operating until a decision is reached in their appeal.

A spokesman for City Sprinter said: "We have been granted a stay until the result of our appeal is known. I am not sure how long that process will take, but we can assure passengers that City Sprinter is continuing to operate as normal - we will not be off the road."

City Sprinter operates two services in Glasgow every ten minutes - the number 38 from Eastwood Toll to Renfrew Street, and the number 75 from Carmunnock Road to Hope Street.

Meanwhile, representatives for bus giant First will appear before the Traffic Commissioner today in relation to an incident which saw one of its buses lose a wheel as it drove along Princes Street in Edinburgh.

The incident on March 12 this year involved a vehicle which had already been issued with a ­prohibition notice by the police in relation to a mechanical defect which required repair. It is unclear whether it should have been on the road at the time.

The bus was operated by the First Scotland East division of the Aberdeen-based transport group, which has depots in Livingston, Musselburgh and North Berwick.

The public inquiry will examine the company's vehicle maintenance procedures and the ­circumstances surrounding the wheel-loss incident. The hearing in Edinburgh will also consider the issue of prohibition notices to vehicles for defects and the use of a prohibited vehicle.

The company will be invited to give evidence in relation to the wheel loss incident and its maintenance procedures.