A PARTIALLY-blind disabled woman in a wheelchair was left waiting more than 40 minutes in the cold last week after a bus driver refused to let her on his bus.

Jillian Marks was forced to wait for another bus after the driver of the 124 failed to allow her on at her stop on Cwmaman Road, despite allowing others on first.

And while the bus was reportedly standing room only, a passenger told the Guardian people had begun making room for Jillian to embark – only for the driver to shut the doors and leave her stranded.

And for wheelchair user Jillian – who is also partially sighted was forced to wait 40 minutes until the next bus – an X13 – arrived.

Jillian, 66, was heading to Ammanford on Wednesday morning and had left her home in Cwmaman Road to get her regular 9.25am bus, run by First Cymru, into the town.

Jillian, who volunteers for Ammanford Evangelical Church by handing out information leaflets, is currently using the wheelchair as she re-learns to walk following a stroke last year.

Four other people were also waiting at the stop and when the bus arrived, despite it being standing room only, the other four were allowed on.

“I’m not actually 100 per cent sure what happened,” says Jillian who was on the way to Shopper’s World where she volunteers.

“But the other people got on and I was told I couldn’t and the driver was a bit snappy with me too. He just said ‘you can’t get on’ and then drove off.

“I then had to wait about 40 minutes for X13 and it was very cold. I couldn’t go home as I have to cross the busy road in my chair and my son was working so couldn’t take me in.”

Jillian said she was told later that people had been moving to make room for her.

“I can get out of the chair and fold it so I wouldn’t have taken up a lot of room. I used to live in Swansea and it happened a lot there but it’s never happened to me here before. I just can’t understand it.”

Witness Lance Williams was heading from his home on Glanaman to Ammanford on the bus when the incident happened. He said he was shocked by the driver’s behaviour.

“The bus was pretty full but there was room. When it stopped I saw four people get on and then noticed a lady was there in a wheelchair,” says Lance who works at Amman Valley Railway Society charity shop in Wind Street, Ammanford.

“People had started moving around to make room and two young girls had moved from the disabled seating area for her to sit there.

“But the bus driver just refused to let her on. People were telling him there was room and I certainly would have offered to get on but there just wasn’t time as he shut the doors and drove off.

“Nobody could believe it. I was very concerned – it was very cold that day. Why didn’t he let her on and make the four other people wait? It’s no way to treat a frail lady in a wheelchair.”

A spokesperson for First Cymru said “We were very sorry to hear of Ms Marks’ recent experience using Service 124.

“We recognise that our services must be accessible for all our customers. All the vehicles in our South West fleet are fitted with ramps and dedicated space for wheelchairs. However, on rare occasions wheelchair users are unable to board buses because the wheelchair space is already occupied.

“Our policy is to ask other passengers using the wheelchair space in the strongest polite terms to make way for wheelchair users. We have launched an investigation to determine exactly why Ms Marks was unable to board."“As soon as our investigation is complete, we will contact Ms Marks and let her know the outcome.”