CLACKMANNAN bus users have been left exposed to the elements and “risk hypothermia” after the removal of a shelter from Port Street, residents claim.

The stop is located in a known open area but has had some form of shield from wind and rain for the previous four decades with the latest cover lasting a number of years.

However, after being moved a matter of metres as part of the Clackmannan School Streets Project, a scheme intended to address the area’s road safety, the shelter has now been taken away altogether. 

Sandy Madden, who lives on Port Street, uses the bus stop regularly and is worried about the risk posed by the site having no shelter or a design which does not provide full protection from the weather.

He told the Advertiser: “We’re fast heading into winter and we have real concern for the people, young and old, waiting at the bus stop, who would be battered by the icy wind and rain with the risk of hypothermia setting in. 

“There is growing anger over the lack of a bus shelter on Port Street. We need the same type of shelter we had before with seating for the old ones.”

Clackmannanshire Council has confirmed a shelter will return to the street but has not yet come to a conclusion as to what type it will be. 

A spokesperson said: “The shelter was removed as a temporary measure to allow for road and footway improvements to be made as part of the Clackmannan School Streets project, and we’ll be talking to local community about the kind of shelter that should replace it.”

Meanwhile, Clackmannan Community Council has expressed its desire to see the return of a shelter which has proper protection and acts as a respite for people from poor conditions. 

Carol Smith, the group’s chair, said: “It would be beneficial to the users of the bus stop to have a shelter to protect them from the adverse weather and a seat or bench for users who are elderly, infirm, or just need to sit whilst waiting on a bus.”