BUS STOP SWITCH BRINGS CHAOS

The pandemonium has been caused by the shift of two major bus services from Lewes Bus Station to a bus stop at the bottom of School Hill.

Brighton and Hove Buses moved its 28 and 29 Brighton to Ringmer and Tunbridge Wells services away from the bus station two weeks ago to save 23,000 pa in rental charges.

Hundreds of passengers a day are now having to stand waiting for buses on the narrow High Street pavement near Friars Walk, open to the elements and blocking passing pedestrians.

On top of that, a vastly increased number of buses are having to use the stop, hindering traffic flow.

Resident Judy Moore said: 'A woman told me she was waiting at the bus station and saw the 28 just drive by. Nobody had told her that Brighton buses don't use the station any more.

'The pavement is also too narrow to be the town's principal bus stop.'

Maurice Gibbon of Ringmer said: 'Bad weather puts us under the cosh. There's no escaping it.

'And the traffic builds up chronically with so many buses stopping and starting.'

A Lewes woman, who did not want to be named, said: 'It's very inconvenient. There are crowds of people waiting for buses and crowds of pedestrians trying to walk up the hill.

'And there's no shelter.'

Another problem is that the Halifax bank has an ATM machine outside. Customers are loathe to use it with so many people milling about.

A Halifax spokesman said: 'We are opening a new ATM inside the office, and keeping the one outside for night users.'

Roger French of Brighton and Hove Buses said: 'We are obviously pleased to have saved wasted money by departing from a dilapidated building.

'But we are well aware that things could be improved at the bottom of School Hill.

'The pavement gets wider further up the hill. We are in talks with the highway authority to see what can be done.'

A highways authority spokesman said: 'We would obviously prefer Brighton and Hove buses to have continued using the bus station.

'We will continue to monitor the situation and talk with the company.'

Martin Elliot, of Rees Elliott, which owns the bus station, said the long-term plan was to provide some form of bus interchange elsewhere in the town.

Rees Elliott intends to re-develop the bus station site for housing, offices and shops.