Kirsty Shepherd was denied access to bus despite court ruling that drivers should ask passengers to make space for wheelchairs

A wheelchair user was refused space on a bus because a pushchair was on board, days after the supreme court ruled that drivers should ask passengers to make space for wheelchairs.

Kirsty Shepherd, 34, was denied access to a bus travelling between Wakefield and Leeds in West Yorkshire on 23 January, when the driver said the space usually occupied by a wheelchair user was being used by a woman with a pushchair.

Although the woman said she would be willing to move, Shepherd says the driver refused to let her board and instead terminated the bus while he called his manager, prompting complaints from the other passengers.

The incident has triggered an investigation by Arriva, who said all of their drivers received disability training as standard and they took their “obligations extremely seriously”.

This month, the supreme court ruled that bus drivers must try to persuade other passengers to make room for wheelchair users and may stop the bus “with a view to pressuring or shaming recalcitrant non-wheelchair users to move”.

The judgment suggested the case, brought by a wheelchair user who was unable to board a bus, also in West Yorkshire, highlighted the need for legislative changes. A bus services bill is going through parliament.

Doug Paulley attempted to get on a First Group bus from Wetherby to Leeds in February 2012 but the wheelchair space was being used by a mother with a pushchair, who refused to move because her child was asleep.

Shepherd, an intensive care nurse who has chronic lyme disease, describes her run-in with the Arriva bus driver as the worst 15 minutes of her life. She claims that after the driver refused to allow her to board the bus, he temporarily terminated the journey and told passengers to blame her for the inconvenience.

“Whilet the driver was talking with his manager, most of the people on the bus were screaming and shouting and berating me,” says Shepherd. “Shouting things like: ‘Can’t you just catch the next one?’, ‘You’re holding everybody up,’ and, ‘We want to get home tonight.’”

The bus eventually left and Shepherd was forced to wait for the next one, which arrived 40 minutes later. Although it also had a pushchair on it, the driver allowed her to board. “I got on to the right and [the woman with the pram] got on to the left, and there were no issues or words from the bus driver,” says Shepherd.

“I spent the rest of the day at home in bed distraught, sobbing my heart out and in pain, struggling to warm my legs and hands up. I didn’t manage to get to sleep and I couldn’t get out of bed the next day.”

Jon Croxford, area managing director at Arriva, confirmed an incident took place on the 444 service from Wakefield to Leeds. “Our customer service team have had extensive conversations with Ms Shepherd about the incident and we are investigating this as a matter of urgency,” she said.

“We are in the process of downloading the CCTV footage and speaking to those involved. We have promised to conclude this investigation swiftly.

“All of our drivers receive disability training as standard and we take our obligations extremely seriously. We will take any necessary steps required following the conclusion of our full internal investigation.”