A 70-year-old St Albans man on his way to hospital had to wait an hour in the freezing cold for a bus to arrive - the fifth time in three months the bus had been so late.

Herts Advertiser: 70-year-old Desmond Coyle has had to wait for a bus for more than an hour on multiple occasions.70-year-old Desmond Coyle has had to wait for a bus for more than an hour on multiple occasions. (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Desmond Coyle, from The Ridgeway, was due to attend an appointment at Luton and Dunstable Hospital on Thursday January 26, but when the 653 Uno service failed to arrive on time he found himself stranded.

He said the cold weather combined with his rare autoimmune condition left him feeling very weak.

The service had been late on two other occasions in November and December.

Mr Coyle said: “It takes 45 minutes to fly from Luton Airport to Dublin Airport. It took just over an hour for me to get to St Albans City Station from The Quadrant in Marshalswick. It would be a joke worthy of a comedy spot if it was not so injurious to people’s health.”

Uno apologised for his wait, blaming heavy traffic in Smallford, which had also delayed the 601 service by at least 50 minutes.

Managing director James Thorpe said: “We make every effort to ensure that our buses operate to the published timetable, however sometimes factors outside our control such as roadworks and traffic congestion lead to services being delayed.

“Our logs showed the 653 service was particularly badly affected on this date. We are sorry the passenger’s journey was inconvenienced.”