New Edinburgh 'super buses' blamed for wrecking road

Cracks have started to appear again in Gilmerton Dykes Street

Photos emerged of huge marks gouged into the surface of Gilmerton Dykes Street at the bus terminus.

The damage is understood to have been repaired within days only for cracks to start appear again within hours.

One driver said: It's a gradual thing as the new buses turn around. I passed two days later and it had been repaired.

“There were cones out also. It'll happen again. It’s only just starting to break up again but not badly yet.”

Lothian Buses ploughed £11.3m into its new fleet of 42 six-wheelers earlier this year- the UK's biggest buses.

The 100-seater Alexander Dennis Enviro400 XLB vehicles were launched in March, carrying up to 129 customers each.

They were first rolled out on service 11 between Ocean Terminal and Hyvots Bank and service 16 between Silverknowes and Colinton.

The Enviro400 XLBs were designed with a front and middle door for passengers to disembark to speed up services and ease congestion.

City road chiefs attributed the damage to “wear and tear” from all vehicles with amounts of traffic on the rise.

A council spokeswoman said: “We are aware of concerns being raised by a member of the public and will continue to monitor the situation.

“The city inevitably faces significant wear and tear from increased volumes of traffic and vehicles of various sizes.”

Lothian Buses’ John White said: “Damage to the road surface in this area has been evident since before the introduction of the new Enviro400 vehicles.

“We continue to work closely with The City of Edinburgh Council, who as the Roads Authority, are directly responsible for road repairs.”