A hospital bus service linking Hawick directly with the BGH stopped running on Friday, leaving passengers in the dark and some waiting by the side of the road.
A statement on Scottish Borders Council website explains: “Passengers travelling between Hawick and the BGH should use First service X95 between Hawick and Selkirk and First service 72 between Selkirk and the BGH.
One woman from Hawick who uses the service regularly said the first she knew the service was cancelled was yesterday when the bus never appeared.
She said: “There have been people waiting for it every day this week, unaware it had been withdrawn. If you were someone with a 9.30am BGH appointment, you would have been scuppered.”
SBC told us this week: “The 71 service between Hawick and the Borders General Hospital was an experimental bus service funded through the Scottish Government Access to Health Care Change Fund project.
“This funding finished on March 31, though SBC continued to fund the service for three months until Friday, whilst it considered its options.
“Unfortunately, it was not financially affordable to continue with the service, especially as there are alternative services available by First which change at Selkirk.”