‘Was driver on a power trip?’
A mum from Sunderland has expressed her anger at a Stagecoach driver who wouldn’t let her 11-year-old daughter on the bus after she mistakenly didn’t have 60p for the fare.
Katie Hunter, 39, says that her 11-year-old daugher, Yvie Hedley, was left “massively upset” when a Stagecoach driver would not let her on the bus on Thursday, March 17, as she was heading to school.
The St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy, from the Hastings Hill area, had accidentally picked up her sister’s phone which meant she did not have access to her mum’s debit card to pay the 60p fare.
Thankfully, her mum was running late that morning, meaning that Yvie could return home or else she would have been left stranded, something that Katie says shouldn’t have even happened.
Following the incident, Katie made a formal complaint to the travel company, who have since apologised to her for what has happened.
Katie said: “When she got back home, she was in floods of tears and said that the driver had shooed her off the bus and just drove off.
"Yvie gets the bus about four or five times a week and always has done since September so she was quite clearly going to school and not trying to pull a fast one.
"She is dead quiet and shy and was even willing to pay the fare the next day but he just wouldn’t let her on the bus.
"If I wasn’t running late that morning then she would have been stranded and now a massive safeguarding issue has happened for the sake of 60p.
"I feel like the driver was either on a power trip or is a bully as you wouldn’t just leave a child and drive off so it is really upsetting to know that someone would actually do that.”
According to Stagecoach’s Conditions of Carriage, all “children aged under 16 who are unable to pay their fare will be carried at all times providing their name and address can be given in order that the fare due may be collected at a later date together with any reasonable administrative costs”.
Stagecoach have also said that the driver in question has been identified and they will bring the issue forward with them to ensure that a similar situation does not happen again.
A spokesperson for Stagecoach North East said: "We're very sorry for what happened on this occasion. We've spoken directly with the girl's mother and have apologised for the experience she had when trying to travel with us.
"Passenger safety is always our primary concern, particularly in cases such as this where children are travelling alone on our services.
"Our staff have extensive training in relation to the carriage of children and vulnerable adults and we always encourage our drivers to use their discretion in the best interests of the customer.
"We are very sorry that we let this customer down this time. We will take this forward with the driver involved to ensure that a situation like this does not happen again."