A BUS company has temporarily put on another service after students said they had been left stranded at bus stops.

Tiptree mum Julie Turner complained to First buses after her son Jake, 16, was consistently late for college.

Jake decided to leave Thurstable School in Tiptree after taking his GCSEs to study at Colchester Sixth Form College.

He started at the North Hill college last month and gets the number 75 First bus at 7.59am from the New Times in Maldon Road, Tiptree.

However, the bus was consistently late, overcrowded and even drove past him on a number of occasions.

After Julie complained to the bus company about the service, bosses agreed to hold a meeting with her and other residents.

Julie said: “There was a meeting with the commercial manager and staff manager.

“Another Tiptree resident, Lynn Wood, and her son, George, accompanied me.

“They listened whilst we explained the situation with the buses and how angry, frustrated and helpless we felt.

“We discussed the overcrowding and how bus drivers would simply drive past our children because the buses were full by the time they reached Tiptree.”

First has now introduced another 8am bus in Tiptree. The additional single decker starts in Heybridge.

Julie said: “It was a positive meeting and both Lynn and I felt like they listened to what we had to say.

“And the fact we now have another bus put on is fantastic.”

Julian Elliott, commercial manager at First Essex, said: “As a temporary measure, we will be running an additional bus on route 75 in the mornings, to facilitate the additional amount of students who are travelling on the service.

“We will continue to monitor capacity over the next few weeks, before making a more permanent decision on what changes are required to ensure everyone who wants to use the service can travel at this busy time of the morning.”