A former councillor has slammed Stagecoach for putting bus heaters on during the heatwave, claiming it is “unbelievable” and that one woman fainted as a result.
Joan Croal, of Crieff Road, Perth, told The Courier she often takes either the number one or two bus into the city centre but has found it unbearable due to heaters being on when she boarded the vehicle.
She claims many passengers have complained to drivers.
“This has gone on during the whole of this heatwave for around a fortnight,” she said. “I’ve been on the Stagecoach number one and two buses and it happened on them.
“I was also on a bus to Scone and the heaters were on it’s unbelievable.”
She continued: “I’m in my eighties and have a bad heart, so I find this situation unbearable. Lots of people have contacted me and there was even a woman who fainted while I was on board a bus, so I gave her first aid.
“I’ve complained to the bus drivers concerned, but they said there was nothing they could do.
“This can’t be allowed to go on like this. We are having a heatwave just now, so to have heaters on buses is just awful.”
Stagecoach said that it was aware of the problem.
Andrew Jarvis, managing director of Stagecoach East Scotland, said: “The heat on some of the vehicles used on service one and two in Perth has been brought to our attention and our engineers are currently working on a resolution.
“We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to our passengers at this time.”