A BUS firm is being urged to improve services in Bishopton.

Julie Pirone, who is standing as the Conservative candidate for Renfrewshire North and West at next month’s Scottish Parliament election, has called on McGill’s to provide villagers with direct access to Glasgow’s Buchanan bus station.

She wants the transport provider to consider providing at least one bus an hour or at a specific time from its Clydeflyer service.

Under Ms Pirone’s proposals, the service would exit the A8 at Westferry, Langbank, and travel on to Bishopton, before rejoining the M8 to continue to Braehead and Buchanan station for onward travel throughout Scotland.

She told The Gazette: “Unfortunately, I haven’t had a reply from McGill’s to my correspondence but I and residents in Bishopton are keen to work together to find a solution.

“We would welcome a discussion on the issue further to see if anything can be done to improve the frequency of services.

“When you live in an outlying community like Bishopton, connectivity to major towns and cities is crucial, especially if we are to encourage more people out of their cars and on to public transport.

“Bishopton residents are not being served well enough in being able to connect beyond Renfrewshire and I hope that, as lockdown restrictions ease, McGill’s will look at changing this situation.

“We have a lot of great bus services in Renfrewshire but we must think about how areas such as Bishopton can be better connected going forward, which would significantly boost the local economy.”

Ralph Roberts, managing director of McGill’s, praised Ms Pirone for her “forward thinking.”

He said: “The Covid crisis has got in the way of a wider bus service review that McGill’s were about to undertake for Bishopton as a result of the significant new housing developments but we will reinstate this workstream in the second half of this year.

“This review would look at pioneering new routes within Bishopton and we would be happy to work on this with Ms Pirone if she is successful in being elected as the area’s MSP.”