UNDER-fire Diamond Bus bosses are to face a public grilling in Kidderminster over the safety of vehicles and its service reliability.

Regulatory body Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain has called a public inquiry, which will be held at Wyre Forest House, in Finepoint Way, on Thursday, June 21.

The scope of the inquiry is to look into the punctuality and reliability of services Diamond provides and vehicle and safety standards.

A monitoring exercise was carried out by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and their findings will be presented to the Traffic Commissioner at the hearing.

Diamond Bus Ltd, which is owned by Rotala, will also present evidence to the inquiry in response.

The Traffic Commissioner can consider taking regulatory action where an operator is found to have breached safety or licensing standards Diamond could face having its licence revoked or suspended. It could also be hit with financial penalties or given a warning to improve.

A spokesman for the Traffic Commissioner said: “The DVSA carried out a monitoring exercise into punctuality and reliability while there was also a maintenance investigation.

“The Commissioner will hear evidence from both the DVSA and Diamond Bus Ltd after before considering a final verdict.”

In his weekly column, Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier said he regularly receives complaints about the service Diamond provides in the district.

He said: “It is quite right that this issue has gone as far as the Traffic Commissioner.”

The Shuttle has previously reported on a string of problems Diamond Buses have encountered in Wyre Forest.

These include a single decker bus being engulfed in flames on Callow Hill in Bewdley on May 23 last year. The six passengers on board and the driver were evacuated and unhurt.

In November 2017, the same bus caused two major fuel spillages within a week after hitting a speed bump on Queensway in Bewdley.

Diamond Bus Ltd has previously been the subject of a public hearing and in February 2017, was given a warning by the Traffic Commissioner for its shoddy punctuality.

A spokesman for Diamond said that it would be inappropriate to comment as the public enquiry is pending.