British wheelchair user not allowed to board bus there

From BBC News:

A disabled woman from Bristol says she was stopped from getting on a bus because she was in a wheelchair.

Irene Dawson (pictured) says she was told by the driver that 'pushchairs take priority' so she had to wait nearly 30 minutes at the stop for the next bus to arrive.

"They wouldn't let me on... I just wanted to get home. I'm diabetic and needed to take my insulin," she said.

A First Bus spokesman apologised and said Mrs Dawson should have been able to make the journey she wanted to.

Mrs Dawson was returning from town with her daughter and wanted to board a bus to Stoke Bishop where she lives.

"There were two pushchairs on the bus and I was refused entry.

"The driver went and told the owners of the push chairs to take one of them down.

"Then she [the driver] looked at me and told me the pushchairs 'had more priority than a wheelchair'.

"I had to get off and wait for another half hour for the next bus to arrive.

"When I got home I called the Lawrence Hill [bus] depot and they told me 'push chairs have as much priority as a wheelchair'," she said.

First Bus Managing Director Justin Davies said the area at the front of a bus - used by both buggies and wheelchairs - was very popular.

He said: "It's all about the people who use that space taking their buggies down to allow the wheelchair passenger to get on.

"If there's no children in the buggy then there is absolutely no reason why it shouldn't be folded down.

"[But] not everyone is willing to immediately move their buggies out the way and put children onto seats and make the space available.

"We would like the wheelchair user to have priority on the journey," said Mr Davies.