A BOURNEMOUTH councillor is embroiled in controversy for a second time amid accusations his coach brokering company has let customers down.

Conservative Cllr Richard Powell, who publicly apologised last year for forwarding on racist text messages, has now been forced to defend the actions of Southern Coaches.

The Westbourne and West Cliff councillor is a director of the Dorchester-based company, which stands accused of failing at least two customers.

Tony Cairns, who lives in Essex, booked a coach through Southern Coaches to take people to his daughter’s 21st birthday party celebrations last December.

He received an invoice with Mr Powell’s former Bournemouth address on it and was told the full £220 payment needed to be made by electronic transfer.

He said he did this straight away but never received any confirmation and spent the rest of the week unsuccessfully trying to contact the company to check the money had been received.

On the night itself, the coach didn’t arrive at any of the three scheduled pick-up points and Mr Cairns was forced to pay another £240 for minibus taxis for the 20 or so guests.

William Boyle, of Glasgow, said he transferred £310 to Southern Coaches’ account for a 49-seater bus for his girlfriend’s 21st birthday party.

He claims he asked for a confirmation email but never received one.

Like Mr Cairns, he said he and his 40 guests waited in vain for a coach that never arrived.

He said he has since spent around £100 unsuccessfully trying to contact the company.

Southern Coaches was also criticised last year for letting down more than 100 Surrey students with special needs.

The company originally quoted Woodfield Primary School £600 to take pupils to Thorpe Park for the day but then doubled the price, claiming it was the fault of “a new girl” in the office.

Cllr Powell, who is not standing for re-election in May, said he had sent a refund to Mr Cairns on Tuesday, January 4, although at the time of going to press, Mr Cairns had still not received this. Cllr Powell has since promised to send a further cheque to compensate Mr Cairns for the money spent on replacement taxis.

Cllr Powell also said he had refunded Mr Boyle, although again this cheque has not yet been received.

He told the Echo: “The situation with the school in Surrey was a mistake by a member of staff. We said we could provide a coach for them but at the wrong price.”

He claimed: “In the Glasgow case, the coach did turn up but the people were very drunk so they weren’t allowed on board in line with our terms and conditions. They were given a refund.

“And in the Essex case, they never transferred their money in time. Someone spoke to them on the night and said if they could transfer the money immediately we would pick them up but that didn’t happen. He has also been given a refund.”

And he added: “We are a broker and we won’t be held responsible for other people’s actions.”

Bournemouth council has confirmed that its trading standards department has investigated Southern Coaches but that this investigation is drawing to a close.

The investigation was related to holiday packages that should have been bonded in accordance with the Package Travel Regulations.