USERS of a long-standing bus company in East Cornwall which ceased trading after short notice on Friday have this week expressed their support and sadness on the company's website.

DAC Coaches, based in St Ann's Chapel, made an announcement on Friday that that it would cease trading from around 7pm that evening.

Ken Cole, an insolvency practitioner from Richard J Smith and Co, based in Ivybridge, is currently advising the director of DAC Coaches.

He told the Times that due to the uncertainty of future contracts, pressure and cash constraints, the company made a decision to cease trading, pending a meeting on April 15 at which the company will look at entering liquidation.

He said the company had considered all its options.

The cessation of trading has unfortunately resulted in around 29 redundancies.

In an announcement on its Twitter page, DAC Coaches said: 'As of 7pm, Friday 21st March 2014, DAC Coaches will cease trading. This is somewhat of a very hard and heartbreaking decision. Thank you.'

Following an announcement on its website, DAC Coaches received comments from bus users and supporters saddened by the news.

One person wrote: 'This is more than sad, it is terrible. Drivers always friendly, a reliable and frequent service. DAC will be missed by a lot of people. Their services are indispensable.'

Another thanked the company for a 'brilliant service', and another wrote: 'Really sad to hear the news. A service I use very often.

'I'm really sorry that your brilliant, kind drivers may have lost their jobs and I hope they realise just how much they are appreciated by their passengers and I hope that any alternative service may provide them with new jobs.'

After the announcement, Cornwall Council made arrangements to cover the routes operated under contract to the council, but said at such short notice, it was not possible to cover services over the weekend.

From Monday, services resumed as best as possible with school and college service times and locations unchanged.

Callington Community College pick-up and drop-offs are being provided by several operators. CAL104 at Calstock and CAL105 at St Dominick are being operated by C J Down Coaches, CAL114 at Stoke Climsland is being operated by Caradon Riviera Tours and the CAL116 at Luckett is being covered by Target Travel.

The 79 public service between Callington and Tavistock has been taken over by Plymouth Citybus and Western Greyhound. The companies and Cornwall Council came to the agreement that Plymouth Citybus will run 75% and Western Greyhound 25% of the service.

The timetable and fares for the service will remain unchanged to that of the DAC service.

Richard Stevens, managing director at Plymouth Citybus, said: 'We are happy to be able to come to an agreement and step in alongside Western Greyhound to make sure that the passengers will have as little disruption to the route as possible.'

Mark Howarth, director at Western Greyhound, said: 'We are very sad to hear the sudden news about DAC, but are delighted that we could step in very quickly along with Plymouth Citybus to make sure that the passengers are not inconvenienced.'

DAC Coaches was formed in 1972 by Bernard Harding, initially to operate taxis and small minibuses in Callington and the surrounding area.

Over the years, the company grew and had been operating a fleet of 20 vehicles locally and throughout the UK.