A shuttle service has been introduced from today after complaints of villagers being left abandoned after the closure of the B7081 due to a large sinkhole.

The 21A Springside service came into service this morning and will run until further notice while the road closure is in place, in order to reduce the disruption being experienced by residents looking to travel by public transport.

The service – operated by Shuttle Buses – will run between Springside and Crosshouse Hospital, stopping at Crosshouse Village. This will allow local residents to travel to Crosshouse Hospital, and also to alight there to connect to wider services. The shuttle service is operating free of charge to users.

A full timetable for the service is available here.

Separately, for school pupils who normally use the public service to travel to Greenwood Academy, a designated shuttle bus will pick up children from a collection point at the junction of Main Road and Station Road, Springside, and then travel to Greenwood Academy. The service will depart at 8.34am each morning.

A return service is also in place, departing from the Academy at 3.55pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 3pm on Wednesdays and Fridays. Communications are been issued to affected pupils via the school. Again, this service will be offered free of charge.

Scottish Water, supported by North Ayrshire Council, are continuing their urgent investigations. Scottish Water undertook a Ground Penetrating Radar Survey today which indicates that the void is limited to the extent of the road, and that the Scottish Water main remains the suspected cause.

Scottish Water are analysing the results of the survey.