BUS drivers and coach company staff learned they had lost their jobs via a text message.

As Wrexham firm GHA Coaches ceased trading and went into administration because of an unpaid tax bill, employees received the news via text from supervisors on Wednesday night.

The text ended with “attend 10am depot meeting at 10am tomoz (tomorrow)” and assured staff they would be paid and receive their holiday entitlement.

Staff gathered for a meeting on Thursday morning at the company’s depot on the Vauxhall Industrial Estate in Ruabon, where administrators Jason Bell and Christopher Petts of Grant Thornton UK LLP delivered the news of their redundancy in person.

Speaking to the Leader outside the gates afterwards, driver Jamie Price, from Oswestry, said: “It’s a sad day. I’ve worked here as a supervisor and bus driver but it looks like I’ll be going back to retail.

“It’s been on the cards for a while but we didn’t expect it to happen so suddenly. It was a real bombshell.

“There still has to be someone to fill the bus routes so I’m sure many of us will be back in work soon, but it’s a sad, sad day.”

Another driver, Tracy from Wrexham, said: “It is a massive shame because there are drivers who have been here 30 years and everyone is now looking for work.”

GHA Coaches, which has a depot in Tarvin, ran a number of services in Chester.

Cheshire West and Chester Council has been working to find replacement services to ensure school children were not left stranded.

The company ceased trading because of an unpaid tax bill, the administrators revealed. The business recently received a winding-up petition from HMRC over unpaid taxes and the directors attempted to secure an emergency funding package but were unsuccessful.

They then took steps to place the company into administration.

Administrator Mr Bell said: “GHA Coaches is no longer operating and regrettably the staff have been made redundant.

“We will explore all options in terms of bringing any part of the business back to life.

“However, our immediate responsibility is to look after the interests of the creditors.”

Mr Bell added: “We are also liaising with the local authorities involved on contingency arrangements for the routes affected in North Wales, Cheshire and Shropshire.”

The firm employed 320 staff and operated 230 vehicles from five depots in North Wales, Cheshire and Shropshire.

Drivers received a small boost by the announcement from another firm, Alpine Travel, that it is seeking staff.

A spokesman for the company said: “In the light of the terrible news regarding the closure of GHA in Wrexham, we are welcoming job applications for driving and engineering staff at our Rhyl depot to help maintain vital transport links across North East Wales.

“For further information please call 01492 879133 or email info@alpine-travel.co.uk.”

Arriva is another company working to fill the void left by GHA’s demise.

A spokesman for Arriva said: “We are working to understand the full extent of the impact and how we at Arriva will be able to respond.

“We are working with local councils in Denbighshire, Flintshire, Wrexham, Cheshire East and Cheshire West to understand how we can help deliver services previously operated by GHA.

“Each of these councils has information relating to the situation on their websites and social media and we suggest you also visit these sites to see how you are affected.

“Cheshire West already has a timetable for service 82 and some sites offer service details along with operators. Some carry information relating to school services.”

A Wrexham Council spokesman said: “We are pleased to say that pupils got to school this morning with minimum disruption and a big thanks must go to staff who worked into the night to sort this out.

“With regard to the regional transport services previously provided by GHA Coaches we continue to work in partnership with other authorities and transport companies across the region to mitigate the disruption to services which will inevitably happen.

“We are doing everything we can to minimise this disruption, however the loss of such a major transport operator will have consequences for the immediate future.”

School buses previously run by GHA Coaches will continue as below:

The Maelor Penley by Pat’s CoachesYsgol Morgan Llwyd by Z Cars taxi from Llanarmon DC/Glyn Ceiriog ValleyYsgol Dinas Bran by Valentines Travel from Llanarmon DC/Glyn Ceiriog ValleyLlay to Castell Alun by George EdwardsChirk to St Martins by E Jones & Son

The T3 will operate as usual and will be run by Lloyds Coaches.