A BUS stop in a York village is "an accident waiting to happen," a concerned resident has claimed. Wigginton resident Roger McBroom claims buses park up for up to 20 minutes at a stop in Mill Lane, Wigginton.

This, Mr McBroom claims, has led to a number of recent near misses as traffic tries to get by.

He told the Evening Press: "There is already an inset bus stop of ample size just yards behind, I don't see why First deems it necessary to have another on the main carriageway.

"Mill Lane is an increasingly busy route, as motorists fed up with gridlock on the ring road attempt to cut off a bit of the traffic by heading through Wigginton towards the B1363.

"The fact that buses wait there for so long leads to massive queues of impatient road users, and I have personally witnessed at least three near misses."

Paul Bell, First's operations manager, said that the stop was the terminus for First's No 1 service, which runs from Acomb, through the city centre and into Wigginton.

The length of the run means a ten-minute "overlay" period is built into it to allow for any delays, Mr Bell said.

He continued: "To say buses overlay there for 20 minutes is a total exaggeration, and they have been doing this for over a year now and there have never been any accidents.

"The only complaints we have had to date are from people who live forward of the stop trying to come forward from their drives in their cars, who say they can't get a clear view of the road."

Mr Bell said the new First timetable, due to take effect on September 2, would cut down on waiting time even further.

He said: "We have taken half of the ten-minute layover out and put it on at the other end of the route. There will only ever be one bus there and for a maximum of five minutes."

Updated: 08:32 Wednesday, August 28, 2002