AN angry mum is fighting for changes to public transport after her 11-year-old daughter was left stranded “in the middle of nowhere”.

Michelle Ewers, from Burnham, will meet MP John Whittingdale next week after a First bus driver left her daughter outside a pub in Steeple as she tried to get home from school.

Michelle claims daughter Carly, who goes to Maldon’s Plume Academy, got on a bus which said it was going to Burnham.

But when it terminated in Steeple, the driver told her she would have to get off – six miles away from her home.

Luckily Carly, who was left in tears by her ordeal, had a mobile phone and called her mum who came to pick her up.

Michelle said: “I sound like I’m just ranting but when I think about what could have happened, I get angry – something needs to change with these bus services.

“We trust these companies to get us from A to B safely and yet they don’t.

“You know when someone is in distress, especially a child. He should have asked if she was okay – not left her stranded in an empty village outside a pub.”

Gran Carol Clayton said: “Carly was in the middle of nowhere, in tears, shaking and terrified.

“I had to keep her on the phone to try calm her down.”

Michelle also claims timetables at bus stops are not kept up-to-date, causing confusion among others getting the 31C service to Burnham.

Michelle said: “More compassion and communication should be expected from people working at these services. I’ve been warning other parents about it at the school gates and made the school aware of the situation – they were mortified.

“It sounds like I’m making a big deal about it, but we live in a society where there are unsociable people around – anything could’ve happened. If someone less able had been kicked off, they would be completely lost.”

Steve Fountain, operations manager at First Chelmsford, said: “I apologise for any misunderstanding that may have occurred when the person tried to travel to Burnham.

“However, we do ask that if a person is unsure of the journey they are taking, they make it known to the driver who will be able to advise the best place to alight on the journey.

“We are investigating the allegation. Asking a minor to leave the bus at a destination they didn’t intend to be isn’t what we expect from one of our drivers and we’re taking the matter seriously.

“In regard to timetables at bus stops in Maldon not being accurate, these are produced by Essex County Council and are replaced by another bus operator.

“We will be notifying the local authority that these have not been updated.”