THE bus company in charge of a multi-million contract to take some Newport pupils to and from school found itself at the centre of more problems yesterday, as the new academic year began in earnest.

Cardiff-based New Adventure Travel (NAT) was awarded the contract to take secondary school children to and from school, but on Wednesday they failed to pick up a number of year seven pupils who were starting their first day at St Joseph’s High School.

Yesterday the company was in the spotlight again following reports of two buses breaking down on the way to schools in the city.

One bus broke down near the Riverfront Theatre while another stopped at the traffic lights on Gaer Road during the rush-hour period.

However, NAT says it is ‘extremely satisfied’ with its new operation, and says feedback from schools has been ‘very positive’.

Kevyn Jones, the managing director of NAT, said the company completed more than 4,000 pupil journeys yesterday.

Mr Jones said: “The Newport school operation is a large undertaking.

“There were a small number of isolated issues including a vehicle breakdown which was dealt with extremely quickly using spare buses we have in place.

“Overall we are extremely satisfied with how the operation has gone today and the general feedback from schools and pupils alike has been very positive.”

Argus readers also contacted us yesterday to complain about NAT buses being parked in Ringland Circle.

One reader thought they had broken down.

But Mr Jones said: “We use Ringland as a layover point for our buses on the N1 service.

“Unfortunately we are unable to use the bus station as our service crosses the city and therefore the city centre is not our terminus point.”

A spokesperson for Newport City Council said yesterday: “We understand there were no more issues with school transport than usually occur at the beginning of the school term.

“We are pleased that pupils who do miss the usual bus are able to use their passes on other buses run by the operator.

“Any complaints received by the council about school transport will be taken up with the contractor.

“Newport City Council is compelled by law to tender all contracts above a certain value under the procurement rules, and New Adventure Travel was awarded the contract because it met all the necessary conditions and submitted the lowest tender.

“The council has a duty to provide services at the best possible price and the new arrangement (with NAT) fulfils this requirement.”