Trips blow as coach firm closes

Monday 6th July 2009, 11:00AM BST.

Bus seats The sudden closure of a north Shropshire coach company may leave scores of elderly and lonely people unable to go on day trips, organisers have warned.

Sylvia Sloan, of Market Drayton Old Folks Club, said she feared day trips and theatre visits scheduled for people in their 70s and 80s might have to be cancelled because Butters Coaches had gone into liquidation.

The group had to cancel a trip to Bourton-on-the-Water on Thursday after the Market Drayton-based firm went into liquidation a day before and now a trip to Llandudno later this month looks doubtful.

Sylvia, who runs the club, said more than 100 members would be disappointed if the trips were called off.

“We had a trip on Thursday to Bourton-on-the-Water and it had to be cancelled, we found out on Wednesday afternoon and so we had to let 53 old people know we were not able to take them and cancel it,” she said.

“We were fortunate because we don’t pay for our trips until the day after, but we had another trip organised in a fortnight to Llandudno and then at Christmas we go to the pantomime, so that’s quite a few trips that we now have to try to rearrange.

“We do about six to eight trips a year, and we’ve always had a good service from them.”

View more: Market Drayton news, North Shropshire news.