Andy Burnham quizzed over Oldham Greenfield bus service

Rodney, who lives in Grotton, was speaking to the Mayor on his weekly ‘hot seat’ show on BBC Radio Manchester.

The 75-year-old had tried to catch the last 180 bus out of Greenfield just after 6pm on Wednesday but he said it drove right past him.

First Bus has apologised for the disruption, which it says was caused by a crash.

Rodney, whose last name was not given, said: “The bus goes past us, not in service, and then we find out later – because there’s quite a few bus stops and the young ones are savvy with their phones, and it had gone off the radar.

 “I said, well it’s just gone past us, not in service. I’ve been on to First Bus this morning and they call it a ‘dead run.’

The 180 bus route travels between Oldham and Greenfield, via Grotton (Image: Google/TfGM)

“It was five to seven when we got a bus that night, there wasn’t a bus up Oldham Road for a passenger for one hour.

“I’ve just inquired and they said it’s what they call a ‘dead run’ where the driver hasn’t got time to pick you up.”

The Mayor was scathing in his response, saying: “You can run fine when you don’t have to actually stop for anybody.

“It’s just ridiculous, and I feel sorry that you’ve been left in that position, it’s just not right – are these public services public services, or what? Are they actually providing a service to the public?

“I’ll get TfGM on to them today, that is unacceptable – if they’re not employing enough drivers to run the service, then they should make way for somebody who will run the service properly – it’s just not on, and people shouldn’t have to put up with it.”

A spokesperson for First Manchester said: “An accident closed Ashton Road in Oldham on Wednesday afternoon causing severe disruption, which regrettably impacted our 180 service.

“This meant we were only able to operate the journey from Oldham to Greenfield and we’re sorry to any customers who were affected by this temporary situation.”