Disabled rights to bus space wrangle

AN Oldham man is at the centre of a High Court case which will confirm if disabled passengers have priority access to disabled bays on buses.

First Bus is appealing against a court ruling won by former Hulme Grammar School pupil Doug Paulley, that the firm’s wheelchair policy is discriminatory.

Mr Paulley (36) was denied access to a First bus in West Yorkshire when a woman with a pushchair refused to move because her baby was sleeping.

He won a claim against the company at Leeds County Court in September and was awarded £5,500 damages.

A judge said First’s policy of “requesting but not requiring” non-disabled travellers, including those with babies and pushchairs, to vacate the wheelchair space if it is needed by a wheelchair user breached the Equality Act.

At the Appeal Court Martin Chamberlain QC, for First Group, said it was an example of a long-running problem on public transport that had “produced conflicting court decisions”.

He said bus operators were now seeking legal clarity. The case is expected to last three days.

He now lives in Wetherby and said: “Public transport should be for everybody, including parents with pushchairs, but ultimately it is a wheelchair space. Without that space, wheelchair users are unable to travel on the bus.”