Wheelchair user Ellie Zavaroni left stranded by Arriva 280 Bus in Haddenham

Arriva have apologised unreservedly and will be checking CCTV

She was forced to wait three hours in the cold.

Ellie, aged 61 from Aylesbury is a wheelchair user and was heading home from Banbury and needed to catch the 16:24 280 bus back to her house in town where she needed to take her medications at the prescribed time.

Speaking to the Herald, Ellie said: "I couldn't believe it. I was there at the bus stop outside Haddenham and Thame Parkway and looking forward to getting home, it was absolutely freezing and I needed to be back to get my medications.

"The driver saw me, I had my hand out and the bus was far from empty.

"I was shocked when he just simply drove on by without even slowing down."

Ellie said she thinks he didn't stop because he couldn't be bothered to get the disabled ramp out, and wanted to get home and out of the cold .

She added; "That's my only explanation for it - there was plenty of room on the bus and two witnesses, one who worked for Chiltern Rail at the station will confirm that for you.

"I was left to sit out in the cold for two hours.

"I honestly felt so vulnerable and unsafe, I felt so anxious that I wouldn't be home to take my medications in time.

"I should have been home at about ten past five, instead I was sat there until 7 o'clock.

"It's an absolute disgrace - I just want to raise awareness because this is how disabled people are being treated on public transport. Arriva should be ashamed."

An Arriva Spokesperson said that they were disappointed to hear about Ellie's experience.

They said: “We are very disappointed to hear about Ms Zavaroni’s experience and encourage any customer who receives a less than satisfactory service to contact our customer service team directly so that we can fully investigate. We will be reviewing our CCTV footage of this service and will take action as appropriate in line with our current policies.”

Andrew Clark from Buckinghamshire Disability Service (BuDS) said this was part of a wider malaise of how wheelchair users are treated.

He said: "Unfortunately this is a regular occurrence for wheelchair users across Bucks.

"BuDS has many members who are wheelchair users and we know from them that buses frequently refuse to stop for them, or the driver refuses to use the ramp, or clear the wheelchair space. This is why wheelchair-users do not feel confident using buses."

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