10:30am Tuesday 16th March 2010
By Paul Offord
CALLS have been made to re-introduce a full time inspector at Basildon bus station after the post was axed last year.
Des Green, 54, was full time inspector of the station, off Southernhay, for 12 years, before his post was scrapped by First East England Buses last year and he took voluntary redundancy.
Bus inspectors rose to cult status following actor Stephen Lewis’s depiction of Inspector Blakey in the TV comedy sit-com On The Buses.
Residents are now complaining the bus station has fallen into a bad state of repair – with shopping trolleys left dumped by bus shelters and vandalism not repaired – because it is now only overseen on a part-time basis.
They also claim more buses seem to arrive late and there is no one there to make sure they stick to the timetables.
Dave Blackwell, 57, of Elizabeth Way, Laindon, who is also a taxi driver, said: “The old inspector used to make sure the place was kept tidy and buses came when they were supposed to. It’s very different now.”
The decision to scrap the full time post was taken last year as part of a cost-cutting programme, introduced when First Essex Buses expanded.
The Echo tried to contact First East England Buses on three occassions, but the company failed to get back to us.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.echo-news.co.uk/trade_directory/