Bus passengers have slammed overcrowding on a busy route between Blackburn and Preston.

Students have also accused bus drivers of not stopping in the morning if the vehicle is ‘too full’ to take on any more passengers.

There have also been questions asked as to why roadworks on Preston New Road could not have been completed during the holidays.

Humairah, an 18-year-old student at Cardinal Newman College in Preston, said the first week back for students based in Blackburn had been a ‘nightmare’.

She said: “This is ridiculous, it’s like travelling in a third world country.

“The bus company should have more services. I’ve had to stand on the bus for my journey from Blackburn to Preston twice this week and today the bus just drove past me because it was full. “Also, I’ve paid £145 for a term bus ticket.

“It has been a nightmare just getting from one town to the other.”

Another passenger, who was intending to catch the bus to Preston but says she was left standing, said: “The bus just drove past and it seemed pretty full.

“I missed my early morning lessons and if this continues, I don’t know what I will do.”

In a statement Transdev said: “We’re sorry to hear that some of our customers have been unable to board their morning bus to college - we appreciate the importance for them to get to their lessons on time.

“We’ve had a look at the data available to us, and we can see that the 8.05am Hotline often becomes full quite early into the journey.

“The last customer appears to board at Higher Walton, suggesting this is the point at which it gets full.

“In this instance, we would advise our customers to instead catch the 7.35am Hotline from Blackburn which usually has available space and is less likely to be full by the time they board.

“If a customer is catching the bus from Higher Walton, then we would suggest the 8.18am Little Hotline instead as this is also less likely to be full by this point.

“This journey arrives at Preston for 8.35am.”

Stagecoach who run services between Blackburn and Preston said they not had 'any reports of people unable to travel due to overcrowding on that route'.

The company added, 'As college students have returned, we have seen numbers of passengers increase but we do have duplicate services available to ensure we can carry all the passengers who want to travel'.

The roadworks on the A59 have added to the turmoil for commuters.

There are five temporary traffic lights along the route. Engineers are working on the next phase of a £7.5m Samlesbury Enterprise Zone project which will see 22km of underground electricity cables installed and a new 33,000-volt substation built.

Humairah added: “Why was this work not undertaken during the summer holidays? It’s utter madness.”

Electricity North West said the lights were to be removed on Friday September 10