Calls for change imminent regarding the infamously vandalised pedestrian subways in Oxdown after trouble continues to escalate.
Last week we reported on incidents in the subways linking the town centre and Oxdown Bus Station, including a head injury for an elderly man after a clash with teenagers, provoking the Chamber to ask to put a stop to such “reprehensible behaviour”
A press release by the Chamber yesterday stated “the subways have become a meeting place for beggars and drunks”. Shoppers using the underpass are also regularly mugged, whilst “litter, graffiti and vandalism” has also contributed to the “deterioration” of the subway. Benches put in place by the Chamber of Trade 12 years ago were also removed shortly after installation due to such bad vandalism.
The Chamber yesterday commented “these subways are no longer safe places to in which to walk, even in daylight”. Meetings will be held with the Oxdown Police and Oxdown Council in the near future to provoke action, with the Chamber voicing their fears that the subways are “giving the town a bad name”. In aid, the Chamber will provide new benches and murals to “give the subways a face-lift”, stating a need to “encourage visitors rather than put them off”.
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Second mock test. Only 12 minutes this time to read and write up....
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Oxdown Bus Company is to withdraw late-night buses from the Service No. 33 as of today.
The announcement comes from Len Davidson, General Manager of Oxdown Bus Company after a series of incidents involving “the mindless minority” has forced the service to stop. The latest incident happened last night, whereupon a drunken youth “grabbed hold of the steering wheel and caused the bus to veer dangerously across the road.”
The service had previously been stopped by the company four years ago, after a series of incidents including “abuse and assault by drunken youths” had resulted in the same action. Although the service had recommenced a year later and ran smoothly for the next two, for the last six months the situation is said to have “badly deteriorated”, with “seats slashed, windows broken, even a fire on the top deck” of one bus.
Not only have buses been forced to be taken off-road for repairs costing “several thousand pounds”, drivers too have been put at risk, with “threats and assaults” including one driver being treated in hospital after sustaining a broken nose after asking a drunken teenager to “stop using filthy language”.
The number 33 bus is a popular service running half-hourly between James Street and the Riverside Estate, and although late-night buses will stop, the service will run as normal from 7am-9pm. Only the busses from 9:30pm-11pm being stopped “until further notice”. Len Davidson yesterday issued a public apology to “those who have behaved in a responsible manner”, and recognises that the decision will “inconvenience” those passengers who use the service as intended.
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