A ROW has broken out after staff working for one of Glasgow's bus companies were told they would face job losses if fare fraudsters could not be curbed.

Drivers for transport provider McGill's were informed on Monday that ongoing issues with fares on the company's ticketing app were affecting profit margins.

According to the company's managing director, Ralph Roberts, McGill's have experienced a fall in revenue due to adults falsely buying child tickets.

Bosses also revealed that ticket fraud was the reason that a pay rise was not awarded to staff in the summer, despite drivers not directly dispensing these tickets to customers.

In a letter to all drivers, he added that it was now down to staff to properly police buying of tickets on the app.

It reads: "It has become increasingly clear that there is rampant ticket fraud and fare evasion going on within our network.

"The single biggest problem is the use of child tickets by adults on mobile. This problem is easy to spot but it take you, the driver, to deal with it on the spot.

"We will be introducing fines for those caught and will be removing their mobile accounts so that they have to pay with cash. Additionally, and unfortunately, when detected, they will recommend that the driver concerned is dismissed. This is a last resort.

"Revenue has been falling dramatically and the lion's share of it is due to the wrong value tickets being used. This is the reason that a pay rise was not awarded this summer. In short, fare evasion and ticket fraud is now costing you money.

"What I ask is that: you play your part, collect the correct fare and make sure that abuse of electronic tickets isn't happening. Today it's costing you money; next it will cost jobs."

The communication from the company's bosses was sent privately to staff, with one disgruntled driver sharing the letter on social media.

In response, concerns have been raised with driver's unions in Scotland as they seek to resolve the problem.

A spokesperson for Unite the Union, who represent many of the affected drivers, said: "This has been brought to our attention and Unite will be consulting with our members over whether they wish to raise grievances."

When approached for comment, McGill's did not clarify whether all staff faced job losses if customers continued to purchase the wrong tickets. They also refused to confirm that drivers were being penalised for ticket fraud by members of the public.

Managing director, Ralph Roberts, said: "We have detected widespread abuse of child mobile tickets by adults. Obviously, this discount is only available to children up to age 16 and the abuse is detectable by our driving staff as they board the bus.

"I do understand that it is sometimes very difficult for a driver to confront an adult who is using a child ticket but this is part of the job.

"When fraud means reduced revenue it unfortunately means that pay awards suffer and that ultimately, it means that jobs may be at risk.

"We have a limited number of options available to us; either remove all discounts or ask our staff to ensure that abuse is confronted. This situation amounts to the few spoiling it for the many.”