A popular bus route which connects Walthamstow and Loughton was the least reliable service of its class.

Figures released by Transport for London (TfL) show only 68 per cent of Number 20 buses arrived at their destination on time between April and June this year, a drop of 10 per cent compared to the quarter before.

Just shy of 20 per cent of buses arrived five to 15 minutes late and 9.9 per cent failed to arrive or link with another service.

The poor results placed the Number 20 as the least reliable of 80 low frequency time tabled services operated by TfL.

Chris Pond, a district and county councillor for the Loughton Resident Association and a champion of those ditched by the Number 20 14 stops early on September 13, speculated on the services poor performance.

He said: "The cynic in me thinks it may be something connected with operators Go-ahead being in the last few months of their contract to TfL, but I daresay there have been echt delays caused by the remodelling of Hoe St.

"There are also delays caused by Waltham Forest Council sealing off the old tram terminus at the Bakers Arms a few years ago, which adds to the delays northbound there.

"Also, the vehicles, which were brand new in 2011-12 must be getting a bit unreliable by now."

At odds with his ruminations, Cllr Pond did travel on an on-time Number 20 on Monday morning.

Tom Cunnington, TfL’s head of bus business development, said: “We are aware of the poor performance of the Number 20 bus between April and June this year, which was due to a number of roadworks on the route.

"We have since asked the operator Go Ahead to improve the reliability that has fallen below what our customers expect and have seen performance go up by around 10 per cent in the last few months.”