Pregnant teen left stranded in cold

A heavily pregnant Rotorua teenager was left stranded at a central city bus stop when a driver refused to let her board because he was running late.

Seventeen-year-old Shisana Timothy, who is 38 weeks pregnant, was left at the Pukuatua St bus stop by a CityRide driver who said he was already nine minutes late.

Shisana said she had spent the day looking for a flat and, exhausted, decided to catch the Springfield bus home at 3.30pm.

As her friend and other people got on she turned around for "a split second" and when she turned back, the door shut in front of her.

"I banged on the door as I looked at the driver and he nodded his head and said 'nah' and just drove off."

Shisana's friend on the bus said she asked the driver to let her on but he told her he didn't care and he was already nine minutes late.

"I was so embarrassed, there were so many people around staring."

Shisana waited in the cold for 30 minutes for another bus.

"I couldn't believe it. It was freezing cold and I was tired. I just wanted to get home."

Shisana's mum Rose Ruki said she was shocked about what happened to her daughter.

"It's pathetic. They left my pregnant daughter on the side of the road," she said.

"I'm outraged ... Shisana was quite distressed. She's been having contractions."

Ms Ruki said she, her daughter and her daughter's friend all complained to CityRide.

They had yet to receive a response but she wanted the bus driver to apologise to her daughter, she said.

The owner of the company that runs CityRide, Dave Reesby of Reesby Buses, said there had been no incident report but confirmed the bus was running nine minutes late.

Mr Reesby said he was unable to respond until he knew the facts and referred questions to Bay of Plenty Regional Council transport planner Barry Reid.

Mr Reid confirmed the council had received a complaint from Shisana but said he couldn't comment until it had been passed to Mr Reesby for investigation.

"We don't know all the facts yet."

Photo: APNZ