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victim: Ellyn Robinson’s pass was one day out of date
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Girl’s travel pass ordeal
Adam Derbyshire12/12/2007
A SCHOOLGIRL was left in tears after a bus driver confiscated her ticket as part of a crackdown on fare dodgers.
Eleven-year-old Ellyn Robinson was dropped off in the centre of Mossley by mum Catherine to catch the 350 First bus service to school on Monday morning.
Without realising it, her 28-day travel pass had expired the day before. The driver asked to see her ticket and told her it was out of date. She apologised and offered to pay instead, but he refused to take the money and confiscated her pass.
Ellyn, a pupil at Saddleworth School, asked for it back but was told to sit down. Upset, she phoned her mum who was on her way to work.
Catherine, 37, said: "She was in floods of tears. I told her to get it back because the travel pass had her photo ID and security number on it. We need that to top up the ticket every month and it was my fault completely.
"I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t take any money, but still let her travel. First told me a new rule had been drawn up offering bus drivers £15 for confiscating expired bus passes.
"It was a genuine mistake. She’s not a teenage tearaway trying to pull a fast one. The driver refused to speak to me and again told her to sit down. I then told her to get his name but he wouldn’t give it. I pay £26 a month for her ticket. Now without a pass I’m having to give her money every day."
Bob Mason, First director, said the anti-fraud programme had been launched by GMPTE to combat use of expired passes and insisted the driver had followed the procedure to the letter.
He added: "So as not to disadvantage vulnerable travellers the driver is then required to offer a free day ticket.
"This was provided in this case, but declined. However, having ensured that Ellyn had sufficient resources to complete her homeward journey, the driver then carried to her school without charge."
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14/12/2007 at 12:59