The boss of bus company Stagecoach said the firm has launched an 'urgent investigation' into allegations drivers on its Falcon service racially discriminated against asylum seekers being forced to live in a hotel near Bristol Airport. And Mike Watson, the managing director of Stagecoach South West, said the bus company would 'not hesitate to take any necessary disciplinary action' if people's 'right to equal access' to the bus services had not been upheld.
In a statement from Stagecoach, Mr Watson also said the bus company had started working with the liaison officer at the Holiday Inn Bristol Airport and North Somerset Council, where up to 150 mainly young men from war-torn parts of East Africa and the Middle East have been placed by the Home Office, to make sure there are no future issues with the men being able to get on the buses.
On Monday, Bristol Live revealed allegations from the leader of an arts charity brought in to work with the asylum seekers at the hotel. Angie Baul, from North Somerset arts organisation Trigger, said asylum seekers and local residents had complained that bus drivers were regularly preventing the men living at the hotel from getting on the bus, both at the nearest stop and also at Bristol bus station.
And earlier this morning, Bristol Live also reported how one local resident - who was on the bus - offered to pay the fare for a young man from the hotel who was having issues with the driver - but was turned down, and the young man was asked to get off the bus. In another incident, the police were called to the bus stop nearest the Holiday Inn Bristol Airport - at Cowslip Green on the A38 just south of the airport after one of the men refused to get off the bus, after being told to by the bus driver.
On Monday, an initial statement from Stagecoach said they had 'found no evidence' of any wrongdoing by its drivers, and said it was in fact looking into reports a number of bus drivers had been abused on that route.
But yesterday, Mike Watson said they had been 'made aware of new detailed complaints', and were now launching an 'urgent investigation. "We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind or unacceptable behaviour, whether that involves an employee or any customer seeking to use our services," he said. "In the past 24 hours, we have been made aware of new detailed complaints regarding the alleged behaviour of some employees operating Falcon services serving Cowslip Green near Bristol.
"We can confirm we have launched an urgent investigation into the specific circumstances involved. We will not hesitate to take any necessary disciplinary action where our values and people's right to equal access to our services have not been upheld.
"In the meantime, we have been in close contact with the liaison officer responsible for the hotel at Cowslip Green and put in place additional monitoring of boarding and ticketing on services calling at the bus stop. Since these measures have been put in place, we have not been made aware of any problems, however we will continue to monitor the situation closely," he added.
In Monday's statement, Stagecoach said it was committed to prioritising diversity and inclusion - something Mr Watson reiterated. "We have a strong commitment as a company to championing diversity, inclusion and equality and helping people right across our community," he said.
"Diversity and inclusion are a priority for Stagecoach, which has set stretching targets to increase the number of employees identifying as being from ethnic group backgrounds to 25% by 2026. As part of these commitments, Stagecoach has six thriving employee networks across the business, which includes a dedicated multi-cultural support group.
"We are also proud to be working closely with local authorities in many parts of the country to support refugees in the UK with their bus travel to help them be an active part of their local communities. This includes discussions with North Somerset Council on how we can work together to make travel easier for refugees living locally," he added.
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