Wheelchair user's anger at bus service

A DISABLED man has spoken of his disgust after a coach company was forced to send out a taxi to pick him up on two occasions after a bus apparently failed to turn up.

Adam Smith, 37, from Chedburgh, near Bury St Edmunds, has been unable to drive due to his condition worsening so has had to use public transport to get to appointments or go into town.

Mr Smith, of Lancaster Road, who suffers from nerve damage to his spine, said he shocked at how he had been treated.

He said: “I'm disgusted with the service, I'm disabled and in a wheelchair and I need to use the bus to travel.

“On a Monday earlier this month, a Burtons bus didn't turn up in Chedburgh and they sent a taxi to pick me up and take me into town as I had a doctors' appointment.

“Then on the Thursday I waited and waited for a bus into Bury and when I phoned the company they said one had been but I had been there 10 minutes early and one hadn't arrived. Again they sent a taxi to pick me up.”

Mr Smith also said the buses were fitted with ramps, which he claimed did not work properly so he has had to ask the driver or other passengers to help him on and off the vehicle.

“The ramps are a big problem, it is embarrassing having to be helped and I wouldn't need it if the ramps worked,” he added.

Paul Cooper, managing director of Haverhill-based Burtons Coaches, said: “We are sorry to hear of Mr Smith's predicament but the service is sponsored by Suffolk County Council and it is not a wheelchair accessible service so we cannot guarantee that the buses have wheelchair access.”

In response to Mr Smith's claims of a bus not turning up in Chedburgh, Mr Cooper said: “We have carried out a full internal investigation and found the bus was running that day but as a gesture of goodwill we provided alternative transport but this service is not guaranteed.”

A spokesman for Suffolk County Council, which sponsors the service, said: “This is the first we have heard of this complaint and we will be contacting Burtons to investigate it further.”

The timetable for the current service will be changing on August 29, and customers are advised to pick up a new timetable or contact the company for information.