I BELIEVE that Network Warrington has not considered the risks associated with obstructing emergency exits on their buses, and that this creates a health and safety issue for its passengers.

On May 23 I travelled from Westbrook to the bus station and was shocked to see the emergency exit was completely obstructed by a row of seats.

The emergency exit on a bus is meant to provide a way out if the main doors cannot be accessed, or if to try to do so would be dangerous. While I would have little problem squeezing past the seat, many passengers would have found it difficult or impossible, because of age, disability, weight or pregnancy. The worst case scenario is that people could have been killed or seriously injured because they were unable to get through this exit.

I e-mailed the interim operations director to explain my concerns.

He replied that the bus and its sister buses had passed their VOSA Certificates of Initial Fitness and, after a decade of use, were soon to be withdrawn.

Moreover, he did not agree with my point that the company was more interested in squeezing on more passengers than with their safety, despite the fact that they could have removed the seat, thereby clearing the door. Finally, he stated that the rear windows of that particular batch of buses were also emergency exits.

I was still concerned, so replied stating that passengers who couldn’t use the obstructed emergency exit would be unable to use the rear window. I also pointed out the contradiction that the company’s conditions of carriage prohibit passengers from obstructing emergency exits. He then shut down any further opportunity to discuss my concerns and stated that he had said all he was going to.

This was an appalling attitude so I made a Freedom of Information Act request for the risk assessments on obstructed exits.

The interim managing director invited me to the depot to inspect the bus and speak to the engineering manager, but I couldn’t go. However, when I received the risk assessments, it was clear the company hadn’t given any thought to how people would get out through these obstructed exits. Therefore, they could not reasonably state they were safe to use.

It would seem that the law is an ass if it allows bus operators to run vehicles that could trap people on board. Next time you are on a Network Warrington bus, check out the emergency exit to see if you could get off if you had to.

DAVID BALL