Village ‘faces Brigadoon fate’ as buses fail to stop

ONE of Scotland’s leading bus companies has been accused of turning an Angus village into a latter-day “Brigadoon”.

Bob Spink, the independent councillor for Arbroath, said yesterday that he had been inundated with complaints from residents of Inverkeilor about the decision of Stagecoach to exclude the village from a new coastal route service operating between Aberdeen and Dundee.

The village, midway between Montrose and Arbroath, is already bypassed by the main A92 road linking the two towns. The new bus service will be stopping at the hamlet of Marywell three miles away.

Mr Spink said: “With the loss of this vital service, one could not be blamed for likening Inverkeilor to Brigadoon – being left to fade away into obscurity by those outside.”

He continued: “The Chance Inn at Inverkeilor was once a coaching stop where a fine carriage with a four-in-hand team of horses was a daily sight. As well as a coach stop and inn, they had a petrol pump, a village shop and a post office.

“New proposals by the modern-day Stagecoach bus company have seen their much lauded X7 superbus drive past on the A92 on its way north or south with only one stop between Arbroath and Montrose – a settlement one quarter the size of Inverkeilor and only a mile from Arbroath. The short diversion to Inverkeilor would literally take only a few minutes.”