TRANSPORT bosses have welcomed changes to a Poole bus stop outside a row of shops on Ashley Road.

Some residents had questioned the wisdom of reducing the size of the stop, but bus drivers have been struggling to pick up passengers safely there for some time.

Morebus operations manager Richard Wade explained: "This particular bus stop was redesigned at our request because the previous stop involved passing several ‘herringbone-parked’ cars.

"It gave our drivers insufficient room to swing in parallel to the kerb - and made boarding the bus a challenge for our customers.

"Now the bus-boarding area allows enough room for our vehicles to stop correctly."

Mr Wade said Morebus welcomed the initiative, taken by Borough of Poole , which made the stop "a safer and more accessible place for customers using our services."

However, Poole resident Simon Coleman had a different view of the 'revamped' stop.

He said: "Can somebody explain to me why you would fill in a perfectly good bus stop lay-by so that traffic - including emergency vehicles - cannot pass?"