Southern Vectis has apologised and thanked passengers for their understanding, after many cancellations in recent days.

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Routes 9 and 1 are among those worst affected by buses not running.

Six journeys to Cowes's Red Jet Terminal were off yesterday lunchtime (Monday), while driver absence was blamed for a significant number of Ryde to Newport buses being taken off the route.

Both will be affected again today, according to the operator's website.

Southern Vectis told the County Press that it is not a recruitment issue and is not related to Covid-19.

Isle of Wight County Press:

Richard Tyldsley, Southern Vectis general manager said: "Whilst this time of year is a particularly busy time for us, my colleagues have been going above and beyond to keep our buses running. 

"At present, we are also facing higher than usual driver absences.

"As with many businesses, our resources are currently stretched - but our team is working hard to minimise disruption.

"Regrettably, we have had to cancel a small number of journeys, but these are isolated to our high frequency routes so that delays are kept to a minimum. We do expect the situation to improve over the next two weeks.

"We thank customers for their patience and understanding during these challenging times and apologise for any inconvenience caused."

This morning (Tuesday), Simon Moye, operations manager for Southern Vectis, issued a statement on the firm's website.

He said: "We have a larger than normal number of colleagues absent today, which may result in some journeys not operating.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused and the team are working hard to operate as many journeys as possible, but we do expect some disruption.

"Thank you for your understanding."