​Parents in Gloucester have spoken out against a government campaign to target pushchair users on buses in a ploy to improve the experience for other passengers.

The Department for Transport has identified mums with buggies as a source of trouble because they use spaces reserved for wheelchairs.

Bus companies could now face a fine unless wheelchair slots are kept clear.

But parents in Gloucester have argued the move means there will be no space for them to go.

Dad Mike Stenning, 30, from Linden, said he and his wife used public transport a lot and neither of them drove.

He said: “It takes about 25-35 minutes to walk from our house to town, and we have done it but other times we just want to jump on the bus.

“Today, I could see it was packed with people so waved the bus driver on but he stopped anyway.

“I could only get in as far as the gangway as people were stood where the wheelchair and pushchair space was. It’s discrimination if this means parents are stopped from using buses.

“I’ve never been on a bus when someone with a wheelchair has come on. Maybe they should have more spaces with flip seats so people can sit there, or stand there and there’s room for wheelchairs or pushchairs.”

Unfair

Amanda Burns, 25, from Matson, said buses frequently did not stop to allow her and her 18-month-old son Oliver on. She said: “If buggies are placed properly there is space for two to three without them blocking the gangway, but sometimes if there are only two pushchairs they won’t stop.

“Buggies are meant to fold up when wheelchairs come on the bus, so I would do that, but why can’t I take up a space if there is no wheelchair around?”

Sue MacDonald, 50, said she sometimes brings her grandson Casey, three, into Gloucester from where she lives in Dursley.

She said: “If I couldn’t get on the bus then we’d have to take a taxi, which isn’t fair.”

Stagecoach declined to comment.

Also included in the Government’s proposed changes was a crackdown on drinking and smoking on buses, and bus drivers who accelerate away from stops without ensuring older passengers have first sat down.

Transport minister Sadiq Khan said: “Two thirds of all public transport journeys are by bus and passengers deserve to have a better travelling experience.”