FirstGroup Plc (Respondent) v Paulley (Appellant)

[Legal Beagles]

BACKGROUND TO THE APPEAL The appeal concerns the lawfulness of a bus company’s policy in relation to the use of the space provided for wheelchair users on its buses. Mr Paulley is a wheelchair user who attempted to board a bus operated by a subsidiary of FirstGroup PLC on 24th…
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[Amethyst]

Re: FirstGroup Plc (Respondent) v Paulley (Appellant)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-38795688

A wheelchair user was refused space on a bus because a pushchair was on board, days after the Supreme Court ruled on the issue.

Kirsty Shepherd, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, said the Arriva driver told her she could not get on, even though there was enough room.

It came five days after the Supreme Court said bus drivers must be more accommodating to wheelchair users.

Arriva Buses said it was investigating "as a matter of urgency".

Ms Shepherd said the woman with the pushchair on the Rothwell to Wakefield bus was happy to move, but the driver still would not let her on.
'No legal power'

In the case that went to the Supreme Court, wheelchair user Doug Paulley took action against First Bus after he was refused entry to a bus in 2012 when a mother with a pushchair refused to move.

The bus had a sign saying: "Please give up this space if needed for a wheelchair user."

The court found the company should do more to persuade non-wheelchair users to move from the wheelchair space, but did not have the legal power to remove them.