A NURSE aged 24 today blasted bosses of an East Lancashire bus company after she said she was hit in the face by a bus and then told it was her own fault.

Joanne Farmer claims a Pilkington's bus struck her while she was standing on the pavement by a pelican crossing near her home in Blackburn Road, Accrington, on Monday night.

When Miss Farmer rang to tell the company, which is based further along Blackburn Road, she said she was told it was her own fault.

And the telephone was put down on the Lancashire Evening Telegraph five times in as many minutes when a reporter rang to speak to the firm.

During the sixth telephone call, owner Ray Pilkington said: "We're very busy. No-one has time to talk to you. The driver has apologised to the woman, even though it is not our fault. There's no comment to make."

But Miss Farmer said no-one had been in touch with her about the incident, which happened at 5.15pm as she made her way home from a nearby shop, and has now complained to police.

She said: "I was looking in the other direction at the time and waiting for the lights on the pelican to change so I could cross. The next thing the bus hit me.

"I was standing on the pavement and the bus's tyres were on the road but it was trying to squeeze through the traffic and was so close it left black marks on my uniform and scratches on my face.

"It knocked me back and shook me up, but when I rang the company to tell them what had happened and to ask them to notify the driver, I was told it was my own fault.

"His attitude was appalling and no one has been in touch since." Miss Farmer, who is a staff nurse at Blackburn Royal Infirmary, has now complained to the police.

She went on: "I'm not badly hurt but if it had been a child instead of me it could have been more serious."

Pilkington's, which operates in Accrington, Blackburn and Rawtenstall, was stripped of two routes and banned from operating any more following a public inquiry in September last year.

A series of claims, including interfering with other buses and failing to operate services correctly, were upheld.

The inquiry also heard how Pilkington's buses had been monitored for four months in 1998 and regularly seen running early and late in a bid to pick up extra fares.

In one incident, a Pilkington's bus cut in front of a Ribble bus which was damaged and officers also witnessed passengers being picked up and set down in traffic lanes because drivers had parked on the wrong side of stands.

Inspector Dave Whittle, of Accrington Police, said the incident was being investigated.

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