New bus shelter survives less than 24 hours

A bus shelter was crashed into less than 24 hours after being built.

First Bus East of England confirmed "one of our vehicles was involved in an incident" in Stock Road, Billericay, on Wednesday afternoon.

Emergency services went to the scene and a woman was taken to hospital, but police said no one was seriously injured and no arrests had been made.

Essex County Council later removed the shelter but insisted it "did not overhang into the road". First Bus East of England said a "full investigation" would be carried out.

Resident Jon Magee, 50, said there was "glass and bits of twisted metal everywhere".

Describing the scene as "carnage", he added: "The bus was there, and half the bus stop was falling towards the fence.

"My first thought was 'that's the place where a load of kids get on and off the bus to school'."

Kurwant Sharma, 73, who lived near the stop, added that there were multiple police vehicles and lots of people at the scene.

James Collins, 73, who lived near the bus shelter, said: "It looked like the bus stop roof was too wide."

He was not in favour of the shelter and added: "Do we need all these fancy bus stops? It didn't look attractive.

"It seems a waste of money to me because they're every quarter of an hour to 20 minutes."

Andy Barnes, Conservative councillor for Billericay East at Basildon Council, said the new bus shelter "lasted less than 24 hours".

He continued: "We have been trying for years to get this bus shelter a place.

"Basically, there were all kinds of toing and froing with it because it was on private land and we had to get it organised."

An Essex County Council spokesperson said its contractor went to the site to make it "safe and remove the shelter swiftly".

"The bus shelter was recently installed on 24 June 2025, in accordance with relevant guidance, which includes providing space between the shelter and the road," they added. 

"The shelter did not overhang into the road. We are investigating with the bus company what happened and are making arrangements for the shelter to be replaced."

A First Bus East of England spokesperson said its bus made contact with the shelter and added: "We are currently undertaking a full investigation to understand what happened. Safety is always our number one priority."

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