A TEENAGER was left in tears on her first day of college after a bus driver ignored a group of students in Swanmore.

Katie Blake, 16, was one of five students waiting for the 7.20am bus from New Road, Swanmore to Peter Symonds College.

The group stood up and walked towards the slowing bus but the driver accelerated and drove on, leaving them with no chance of making it to the college before 9am.

Two parents had to cancel plans and make 32-mile round trips to ensure their children were on time.

Katie’s mother, Kerry, of Spring Lane, said: “She was in tears when they rang me. She said ‘what do I do? I can’t be late.’ They’re nervous and they don’t know what to expect.”

“It’s their first day - they don’t want their mums taking them. It mucked up my whole day.”

She added that Stagecoach, which charges £630 for an annual ticket to the college, have refused to refund the equivalent of a return ticket or reimburse her fuel costs.

“I don’t quite understand why Stagecoach can charge such an amount and give poor service,” she said. “They’ve got a monopoly, really. I at least want a refund and a return for my petrol.”

Martin Gibbons, operations manager of Stagecoach in Hampshire, said that passengers needed to gesture directly to bus drivers.

“There was no attempt made by the complainant's daughter to hail the service bus in question,” he said.

“It is regrettable that this incident had occurred in any instance and I am pleased to learn that there has been no repeat.”