‘I give up. I tried my best. I will not be the last to go.’

The DoE refutes the claim saying it has held talks with the European Commission and that cross-border bus operators can carry out runs legally on a temporary basis.

Almost two years ago the Sentinel first reported how Mr Leonard - the proprietor of Leonard Travel - was concerned Donegal firms were monopolising local school transport contracts and that statutory agencies were not doing enough to protect local businesses who were being frozen out of their own market.

He told the paper that the local Home to School market was sewn up by southern firms and argued this could be in breach of a European Commission (EC) ‘cabotage’ directive which governs the operation of the international market for bus and coach hire services in the EU.

Under EU law ‘cabotage operations’ are national road passenger services for hire and reward carried out on a temporary basis by a carrier in a host member state or the picking up and setting down of passengers within a host state.

After a two year battle to get the DoE to address the situation, Mr Leonard has now written to the Department saying he’s leaving the industry.

In a letter to the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) he explains he has been “forced to leave the bus industry and as a result cannot see a viable reason to renew my bus operators’ licence number.”

He said the situation had come about as a result of the “complete failure of DVA policy, enforcement and licensing staff” to uphold EU and NI law.

He believes Republic of Ireland operators have been allowed to operate for up to 18 years in breach of EU directives.

“I give up, I tried my best. I will not be the last to go,” he lamented.

However, a DoE spokesman refuted Mr Leonard’s claims and said: “The Department recently reviewed its policy following discussions with European Commission and local bus operators in respect of cabotage operations within Northern Ireland and issued clear policy guidelines detailing the nature of journeys that can be undertaken lawfully and on a temporary basis by operators based in another Member State.

“Cabotage means that passengers are transported solely within Northern Ireland by an operator licensed in another Member State.

“The Agency refutes any assertion that there has been a failure by Policy, Enforcement and Licensing Staff to uphold the law and routinely deploys its enforcement officers for the purposes of scrutinising public service vehicles and their drivers at the roadside to ensure that they fully comply with EU requirements.”