For years the pensioners of Seaton have enjoyed the peace and tranquillity of life on Devon’s picturesque Jurassic coast.
That is until an open-top tour bus started running in the area, bringing with it hordes of tourists, noise and fumes from the vintage 1950s engines.
Enraged by the incessant din from the buses, the pensioners allegedly waged a bitter vendetta against the company – which last week ceased operations, blaming the ‘tirades’ of locals.
Derek Gawn’s open-top bus service along Britain’s Jurassic Coast which has been forced off the road after a campaign
Pensioners would routinely hurl abuse as drivers from their sea view balconies, according to Mendip Mule owner Derek Gawn
Derek Gawn, owner of Mendip Mule, said he could no longer put up with the ‘whining’ of a hostile group of pensioners living in a retirement block next to the bus depot.
He claimed that on one recent occasion, the wheel nuts on the buses had been dangerously loosened by an unknown perpetrator operating under cover of night.
Pensioners would routinely hurl abuse as drivers from their sea view balconies, he said.
Staff had their pictures taken as they turned up for work and the entrance to the depot was once blocked by cars in an attempt to stop the buses gaining access, it is claimed.
One of the pensioners even went as far as to set up a fake Facebook account to give the service low reviews. They also pretended to be a councillor complaining about the noise from the buses.
It is claimed that on one recent occasion, the wheel nuts on the buses had been dangerously loosened by a perpetrator
Mr Gawn said the open top tour had been withdrawn ‘due to hostility from a small minority of local residents towards our staff’
The main flash point has been the bus park on the seafront at Seaton, which is next to the block of retirement flats, but there have also been skirmishes with locals in nearby Colyton.
A couple of residents of the flats have allegedly taken to shouting at the drivers for parking our buses in the bus park
The bus tours have been running since 2015, and since then residents on the Seaton seafront have complained about the noise of the vehicles chugging in and out of the station.
Mr Gawn, 64, explained: ‘The open top bus tour has been withdrawn due to hostility from a small minority of local residents towards our staff.
‘We have taken the decision after me and my staff have been subject to tirades from a few local residents in the Seaton and Colyton area.
‘Sadly a couple of residents of the flats have taken to shouting at the drivers for parking our buses in the bus park, as they don’t want them outside their flat.
‘There was a slight issue with the fact we run older vehicles which obviously pre-date emissions tests and when they start up on a cold morning they can be a little bit smokey, but they’ve passed all their tests. All the engines were shut down once they were parked.
‘It has been elderly people in all cases. It is the same type of people who buy a house next a railway and then complain about trains, despite the railway having been there for over hundred years.
‘It isn’t for the bus drivers to be shouted at by residents and we no longer wish to subject our staff to such behaviour from a small minority of locals.
Staff had their pictures taken as they turned up for work and the entrance to the depot was once blocked by cars
One of the pensioners even went as far as to set up a fake Facebook account to give the service low reviews
The service operated from 9am to 5pm throughout the summer – and the last tour ran on Sunday
‘We have experienced people deliberately parking their cars badly on the approach to our depot at Colyton Station in an attempt to make access difficult. We had one resident taking pictures of the drivers arriving in their own private cars.
Mr Gawn said he felt he had no choice but to succumb to the demands of the angry elderly residents
‘Recently we even had a bus tampered with at night. All the wheel nuts were loosened on one wheel, and the wheel nut indicators were all put back on to cover the damage. That’s dangerous and could kill people.’
The bus tours welcomed 20,000 tourists a year paying £3.95 for a tour of the scenic towns and villages of Beer, Colyton and Seaton in Devon and Lyme Regis and Charmouth in Dorset.
The service operated from 9am to 5pm throughout the summer. The last tour ran on Sunday, with Mr Gawn saying he felt he had no choice but to succumb to their demands.
‘The whole thing has made me ill from the stress of repeatedly dealing with these people,’ he said.
‘The final nails were not mechanical issues or the weather. It was the continual whining of a few people.
‘I do realise that 99 per cent of people do support us, but I can no longer cope with the one per cent.’
A spokesman for Kingsdale, the company that manages the flats, said residents had an issue with the noisy engines.
He said: ‘The complaints being made by residents relate to coach services generally and not specifically the Mendip Mule.
‘It’s about drivers who leave their engines running while they’re not moving. This is a long-running thing and there have been complaints about that practice.’