Oxford City Council has not covered itself with glory over the bus pass issue.

While other councils appear to have sailed through the operation, the city has had a bumpy ride.

Admittedly, the city has more pensioners and disabled people to deal with, and the vast majority of the 20,000 entitled to passes received them on time.

But that is no consolation to the several hundred people who missed out on the April 1 start date.

We were told a week ago that the only people in the city still without passes were mainly those who had submitted new applications and carers.

But it is clear from complaints the Oxford Mail has received this week that others have been caught up in the chaos.

Why is Oxford so out of step?

It is not as if the national scheme has been foisted on local authorities at the last minute - it was mooted at least two years ago.

City council officers say that all passes will have been issued by today. We hope they are right.

Only then will we be able to say to all those entitled to them - Bon voyage!