A SOUTHAMPTON MP has branded moves to withdraw the city's fleet of bendy buses as "farcical".

John Denham's comments sparked a bitter row after he urged the city council and First Hampshire travel group to find ways of ensuring the super-low vehicles could remain on the roads.

But the two groups insisted they had done all they could ahead of the firm's announcement this week it was pulling the vehicles out of service because they were being damaged by speed bumps.

Mr Denham, MP for Southampton Itchen, said: "I hope the city council will move very quickly to have discussions with the company and for improvements to be made to allow the bendy buses to operate and I hope the company will reconsider its decision.

"I am really disappointed they don't seem to have bothered to resolve the problem. The situation became a farce and it was an issue where people needed to get around the table."

Councillor Jill Baston, Cabinet member for transport and environment, insisted they had done as much as possible to keep the £2.3m fleet on the road.

"We have been talking to First throughout the summer and we shall continue to do so.

"We are sure First will bring in buses that will suit their passengers needs, especially of course the need for fully accessible buses.

"We altered the humps in Millbrook to make things easier for the bendy buses and have done absolutely everything we can short of removing the humps, which we could obviously not do as that would have implications on road safety.

"If this has to be the solution to the problem then we are sorry to see the buses go but in the end that is First's decision."

Rod Anderson, head of transport at the city council, said: "These humps in Millbrook were introduced ten years ago to reduce accidents and they work. My position is that I cannot reduce the humps any further before they lose the traffic calming effect."

Bus bosses said new traffic calming measures in University Road convinced them its 13-strong fleet had to go.

They claimed the three-year-old vehicles had been so badly damaged that it looked as though they had been in service for seven years.

A First Hampshire spokesman said: "Both parties have been working hard to find a solution to this particular issue, and the council has taken action to try to address the problem. However, efforts to find a solution which preserves the traffic calming effect while allowing the articulated buses to ride over them without damage have not been successful."

A spokesman for First Group said: "In general terms, buses are on fairly major routes, which don't have a lot of speed bumps. Wherever possible, if there's an issue, we try to work with the local authority to find a solution. The buses are pretty much the same across the company."