Grimsby gardener ‘could lose her business’ because of changes to bus routes

A Grimsby woman says changes to bus routes across the borough could harm her business.

Laurie West, a gardener who lives on Hainton Avenue, uses the bus to visit her clients. However, now the routes have changed, the bus no longer picks her up from her stop.

She uses the number 7 and the 250, known as the Humber Flyer, but she now has to walk much further to catch them. She says it has left her unsure if she can keep her business going.

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She now has to walk much further and is not wanting to pay for private transport, Laurie is unsure whether she can keep her business going. Also suffering with mental health issues, the change has stopped her wanting to take the bus to Cleethorpes and made her anxious about when the next bus will arrive.

Laurie said: “I used to take the number 7 and Humber Flyer to my clients and I could easily get to them and back to my house that way, but now I can’t. I also can’t get to my allotments as easily now.

“There’s no easy way of getting to these places with the way the buses are now, so I don’t know what to do.” One change to the stops had added a walk of more than a mile and a half to her journey, she added. “One of my client’s lives on Cambridge Road and because of the changes to the number 7 it means I have to walk all the way from Hainton Avenue.

“I’m happy to have my clients, but I have lost two jobs because of these changes. It’s just not good enough.”

The changes to the routes came out of the blue, Laurie said. “I was angry when I first found out and even rang my local councillors to discuss the issue.

“I also approached Stagecoach to express my concerns, but they just told me about statistics. If that’s their main concern, they shouldn’t be in charge of the buses.”

Laurie, who does not have a driving licence, said she had to cancel some clients. “A bus has been a great choice for me since I started gardening, but now I’m not sure what to do,” she added.

“The dream would be to have everything back to the way it was, but I can’t see that happening. It’s also taken a toll on my mental health, knowing when the bus came kept me calm, but now it’s all changed I’m far more anxious.

“With the way things are going I may have to give the business up completely now. I don’t want to put my prices up and with everything costing so much more I certainly can’t afford to pay for a taxi every time I need to get somewhere.”

A spokesperson from Stagecoach East Midlands said: “Working closely with North East Lincolnshire Council, we made a number of revisions to our Grimsby Cleethorpes bus network during May to reflect changing passenger travel patterns since the pandemic. We have extended some core routes to provide new journey opportunities with better frequencies. We have also reduced or curtailed services where there are overlaps to ensure the long term viability of the network.”