First Cymru have withdrawn some of its evening services

First Cymru stopped running routes from Bridgend to Bettws following incidents, including one in which a nine-year-old child was found with a knife.

Despite a police presence on buses, the firm said it could not guarantee passengers and staff safety.

But some local people said they were angry at the loss of services.

We would like to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience this may cause, however First Cymru regards customer and staff safety as paramount First Cymru spokeswoman

A spokesman for South Wales Police said that following an incident in which a child was found with a knife on a bus, the force agreed to a two week trial where an officer would be aboard the bus in the evening.

However, he said that just three days into the trial, the bus company withdrew the service again.

A spokeswoman for First Cymru said the situation was under review but that the company had "no option" but to withdraw the service.

"First Cymru regrets to inform its customers on Services 14 and 15 that these services will no longer operate via Bettws in the late evenings," she said.

"After a series of anti-social incidents in this area, First Cymru, with the support of the police, resumed some evening services on 2 December.

"Unfortunately, the situation has not improved and First Cymru once again feels unable to guarantee the safety of it's customers and staff.

"As a result we have no option but to remove the evening journeys on these services until further notice.

"We would like to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience this may cause, however First Cymru regards customer and staff safety as paramount."

One local resident Shirley Thomas, from Bettws, said that the loss of the service was causing problems for commuters.

"It is ridiculous - how are people supposed to get home from work?" she said.

"There are a lot of people who work shifts at the hospital and people just can't get home".

"It is causing an awful lot of problems - people are really struggling because there is no transport," she added.