A DISABLED resident with learning difficulties says she felt “upset and angry” when she was told to either fold-up her mobility walker or get off a bus.

Karen Wells, 56, of Mason Road, Clacton, often has trouble walking long distances so uses public transport to get around the town.

In the past Ms Wells, who also wears two hearing aids and suffers with diabetes, has been prone to falling over, so now relies on her four-wheel walker to aid her stability.

Last week she boarded a Hedingham bus outside the Lidl supermarket in Pier Avenue.

A short way into her journey a group of mothers with push chairs got on the same bus as Ms Wells before telling her to fold down her walker for space.

Because of her disabilities, however, Ms Wells told the group she was unable to simply pack it away, but she was then given the ultimatum.

Ms Wells said: “I have disabilities, but I get on buses every single morning and I always put my walker in the area for disabled people.

“I always sit in the same seat, but last week a group of mothers with pushchairs got on and they and the driver then told me to move my walker or get off the bus.

“I decided to just get off the bus, because I find it hard to fold my walker up, so I had to wait half an hour, in the rain, before I could get on another one.”

In a bid to avoid confrontation, Ms Wells said she tries to avoid bumping into the mothers by getting a different bus.

She said: “I was very upset and angry because I love going out, but now I have to walk a little bit further.

“Their children could have got out of the push chairs and sat on their laps.”

Hedingham insisted that residents with disabilities who use their service remain a priority, but they must be courteous when mothers with buggies get on the bus.

A spokesman for the company added: “Disabled people are a priority to us and all of our drivers know that priority.

“But if pushchairs get on then, bus users with mobility walkers should fold them down to make space.

“We have investigated this issue and found that Ms Wells chose to get off the bus and was not forced off by the driver.”