Fury after girl is ‘abandoned’ at tram platform
A GIRL of nine has been left ‘traumatised’ after being ‘abandoned’ on a Metrolink platform when the doors of the tram she had just got off closed on her guardian.
Lilly-Rose Peppard was stood alone at the Cemetery Road stop in Droylsden, Tameside, for 15 minutes, her family said. The youngster hopped off the tram ahead of her mum’s ex-partner, who was preparing her sister’s wheelchair.
The doors then shut, leaving Lilly-Rose on the platform on her own.
Transport bosses said a member of staff quickly pressed an emergency button when they realised what had happened, but the driver had to continue to the next stop as the tram had already cleared the platform.
Luckily, Lilly-Rose was able to phone her grandmother, who picked her up from the stop.
Her mum’s former partner and sister had to get off at the next stop and turn back.
Lilly-Rose’s family are furious – and say she was put in harm’s way. Her grandmother Esther, 50, said: “I’m still shaking I’m so angry.
“Someone could have taken her. There are 100 emotions running through me right now. It’s the ‘what ifs.’”
Lillly-Rose was with her sister and mum’s ex-partner travelling from Ashton-under-Lyne when they arrived at the Cemetery Road stop and she stepped off the tram.
Her mum’s former partner was preparing her sister’s wheelchair and the doors closed before he could join her, said Esther.
When Esther arrived to pick up her grandaugther, she says she was in tears and was ‘traumatised.’
A spokeswoman from KeolisAmey, which runs Metrolink, said: “KeolisAmey Metrolink will review the incident to establish if anything could have been done to prevent the girl being separated from those she was travelling with.”