A BUS driver told passengers travelling from Salisbury to Marlborough to get off and wait an hour for the next bus as he had “gone over his hours”.

Several passengers were asked to get off the Salisbury Reds X5 bus on Friday afternoon and people waiting at the stop in Pewsey were informed that the driver wasn’t travelling any further as he had finished his shift.

Andrew Mundy, 49, said his 13-year-old daughter Freya was left in Pewsey and missed a dental appointment in Malborough.

“This is absolutely unacceptable,” he said. “To turf passengers off the bus and tell them to wait an hour is incredible. It’s almost impossible to believe that this should be allowed to happen.”

“People rely on public transport to get to where they need to be on time. How many other people using that service had appointments or meetings and were late or didn’t make them?

“What really frustrates me is that there doesn’t seem to be any redress or any responsibility. They do it and expect people to accept it. And yet we are told by local authorities and the transport companies themselves that we should use public transport. Public transport – more like a public joke.”

Andrew Sherrington, Salisbury Reds operations managers, said: “I am aware of an incident recently, where some of our passengers were asked to leave the Salisbury Reds X5 bus at Pewsey.

“We pride ourselves on the high level of service we provide here in Wiltshire and I am concerned when any of our customers are unhappy.

“In view of this, we are conducting a full internal investigation to determine the reasons behind this event.

“We will also take the opportunity to make improvements to our communications about this service – and ensure that customers are kept fully informed of any route or timetable updates.”