Stagecoach Bluebird is cutting the frequency of most of its bus services in response to government advice on avoiding non-essential travel.

The company has told me that following an analysis of the demand for bus services in the area since the latest lockdown began on Boxing Day, the frequency of most services will be reduced while continuing to cater for essential shopping trips and key workers to commute by bus.

Newtonhill village, for example, will be served by buses every two hours. Portlethen Asda will have buses approximately every hour in either direction. Chapelton is reduced to a bus every two hours to/from Aberdeen or Stonehaven. There will be however frequent X7 services on the dual carriageway.

Revised timetables across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray will be in place from Monday 25 January and are now available at stagecoachbus.com. Scroll down to the Stonehaven area services to check the details.