Oxford Bus Company will withdraw its X90 service to London from January 4, it confirmed today.

Passengers wanting to get the coach to London will now have to use Stagecoach in Oxfordshire's Oxford Tube.

Oxford Bus Company said the decision has not been taken lightly and the company will be doing everything possible to minimise the impact on customers and colleagues up to the withdrawal date.

Growing congestion has made journey times worsen by up to 50 per cent in two years.

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Oxford Bus Company managing director Phil Southall said: “We would like to thank everyone who has travelled with the X90 and our colleagues who have worked with us throughout this time.

"The withdrawal of the service is no reflection on the performance of colleagues, and we are grateful to everyone who has travelled on the service.

"We are aware that we have many loyal customers who will be inconvenienced.

"This was a difficult decision that was taken to safeguard the overall sustainability of the company.

"Unfortunately, the service makes a significant annual loss, which cannot be sustained.

"We have tried to develop a niche for the service by offering a high-quality service at more affordable fares to better compete in the market but this has not been successful.”

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Season tickets and 12-trip passes will continue to be valid up until the service stops and from January 4 any unused tickets will be eligible for a pro-rata refund.

The X90 coach service between Oxford and London has a long history, which can be tracked back to the 1920s.

The current express service has operated for more than 40 years and has carried millions of customers.

Falling passenger numbers due to new rail competition and worsening congestion have made maintaining the X90 service 'challenging' says the company.

This has seen the time it takes to complete a journey between Oxford and London worsen by up to 50 per cent in two years and passenger numbers drop by 35 per cent since 2015.

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Oxford Bus Company introduced several measures to adapt to the challenges, including new timetables and lower fares but it said it was no longer viable to operate the X90 service.

All X90 drivers will be redeployed to other roles within the business and Oxford Bus Company aims to keep job losses relating to the withdrawal of the service 'to a minimum'.