After appealing for more residents to contact her last August, Debra heard of a number of different issues residents were experiencing, which she took to Stagecoach.
Cllr Debra Platt was contacted by Euxton residents about problems with Euxton's bus service.
After appealing for more information with a notice she put by the bus stops quite a number of residents made contact with Cllr Platt. She submitted two complaints to Stagecoach itemising problems reported to her.
Residents were being left stranded at bus stops all times of day and night - even wheelchair users.
Residents reported late and full buses passing the bus stops failing to pick up passengers, wheelchair users being left at the bus stops, the service moving from half hourly to hourly, the use of the mini sized buses at peak times which were often full and didn’t stop.
The Lancashire Evening Post also picked up the story from Cllr Platt and obtained a comment from Stagecoach [unlike Cllr Platt, who is still waiting responses from the official complaints].
Stagecoach's commercial director for Merseyside and South Lancashire, explained the largest buses that can be used on the service are single decker, because of a low bridge Wigan Road in Euxton however, the very smallest vehicles that have been the subject of the complaints should soon disappear.
He went on to say we are in the process of shuffling around some of our fleet to eliminate the smaller buses at our Preston depot and to ensure that we have enough larger single deck buses to operate on service 109.
On the issue of leaving wheelchair users behind the bus operator's spokesman said, “Our drivers should - as a minimum - ask anyone with a buggy occupying the wheelchair space or spaces to move from [there and] fold down the buggy when a wheelchair user wishes to board. In most cases, people are reasonable and comply, but occasionally they refuse and there is little our driver can do in those instances."
