- Homeowners claim new double-decker bus service is infringing privacy
- The number 32 was introduced for high demand of students in peak times
- But residents fear potential burglars could use bus to scout out properties
- Parish council complained to travel company First Group on their behalf
- But bus firm defended its decision, saying bus is needed due to demand
Residents on an affluent street have complained to council bosses because top-deck bus passengers can see in their houses.
Homeowners in Worcester, West Midlands, claim their privacy and security has been put at risk since transport company First Group began operating a double-decker bus service.
The number 32 route was introduced a few weeks ago to accommodate a large group of students at a nearby college during peak times.
Homeowners on a street in Worcester say their privacy and security is at risk due to people on double-decker buses, which stop outside their rear gardens. Until a few weeks ago it had been single-deck buses only
But residents on the street, where an average house costs £300,000, fear that potential burglars could use the top-deck to scout out vulnerable properties and have written to the parish council.
Resident David North, 74, said: 'We are particularly vulnerable at our location as the bus stop is located directly behind our rear fence, we feel the bus is almost in our garden.
We have lived here for 12 years and we understood that only single-decker buses were allowed on this route due to the fact that most of the houses have rear gardens that back onto [the main road] and therefore are overlooked from the top deck. 'My neighbours and I believe this is an intrusion into our privacy.
'Single-decker buses, however, are not visible above our fence and this is what we have always expected and wish to return to.'
A view from the window of one of the properties on Falcon Close, where neighbours have complained about the number 32 bus route, introduced to carry a large population of students from a nearby college
A single decker bus stopped in the bus stop clearly shows that commuters cannot see over the fence when on the smaller buses. However, First Group which operates the service says it's needed due to high demand
Another resident, who did not want to be named, added: 'When the summer comes I don't want students rubber-necking at me as I get dressed in my bedroom or stare at me while I'm sunbathing in my garden.
'It's human instinct to look out of the window of bus but I hate the idea of being like an animal in the zoo for the entertainment of a bored passenger.
Councillor Brenda Wheeler, 65, who also lives on the road, said the buses would 'discourage people from making use of their own gardens'
'When you spend several hundred thousands of pounds on a house you expect a certain amount of privacy for your money. I feel this double-decker bus is breaching my human rights.'...
